Ellie and Chris

Prologue

They sat at the eight-sided picnic table, with one side in between them. The angle was just enough that they didn't have to face each other, confront each other head one, but just allowed them to see the other at the edge of their vision. Their conversation wandered much the same way--the threads of their words crossing only slightly.

"I don't want to be the other woman," she said.

"I'm sorry about earlier today," he replied. "I should have known that style is too personal to you."

"My family...." she started, and then went on to describe her childhood, while he absorbed it; he listened, eager to learn more about her, though unsure how to respond.

After she finished, he said "I feel so guilty after we spend time together. I get lost in the moment, the heady rush of your company, and then once we're apart, all I feel is the weight."

They both looked off; he, contemplating how he'd let it go this far, how they'd ended up here talking at obliques; she, silent and looking pensive.

He spoke, resigned, unhopeful "I'll try to be strong enough this time."

She asked "A goodbye kiss on the way back?"

He nodded, wondering if he could keep it to that.

Ellie and Chris

Chapter 1: Chris's Point of View -- The Introduction

I saw Ellie the first day I started working at my new job, and then I avoided and real interaction with her for the first three weeks. I knew that through no intentional artifice of hers, I would be unable to overcome my desire for her. Physically, she was just what my weaknesses were: full, soft lips; wide, brown eyes; dark hair; slight, toned build. I wasn't sure if I was more worried that I would be being unfaithful to promises I made or that she would rebuff my callous or juvenile attempts at making us more than coworkers.

When finally business dictated I talk with Ellie, I ever-so-nonchalantly strolled over, and she looked up at me through her bangs with soft eyes that had a glint of mischief and said "I wondered if I wasn't important enough for you to talk to--you've been walking by for three weeks." Caught off-guard I had no witty retort, or snappy comeback. I don't remember what my reply was, but I'm convinced it was some inadequate, inane mumble. Moving past my embarrassment at being called on my obvious avoidance of contact with her, I went through the details of the questions I had, all the while distracted by watching her lips part with every word and wondering what it would feel like to kiss her, hug her.

Over the next few weeks, I continually made reasons to talk with Ellie--once the initial hesitancy had been overcome, I forged forward with thinly veiled reasons to spend time alone with her in out of the way conference rooms or sometimes going out to lunch. At the beginning stages, even though my intentions weren't noble and pure, I didn't feel the guilt and anxiety that was to follow later.

As we continued building a rapport, wandering through the neighborhoods near our office, we bonded over the most important topics: we were trading stories of books, family, travels, and our thoughts and personal history. Getting to know Ellie's family history, her taste in reading material, and hearing about her travels did nothing to dispel my initial desire for her, and only further showed me how much there was to her personality that was as or more desirable than the rest of her. The insights she intentionally or unintentionally provided showed me someone who was strong, independent, and opinionated in some parts of life, but also someone who had blind spots and lacked some life experiences I took for granted. Though she kept details about her love life closely guarded and didn't mention it, the sheer lack of detail or acknowledgement led me to believe she hadn't spent much time in long-term relationships other than friendships.

Our wanderings went further and further afield, and I made opportunities to touch her--innocently, but protectively and possessively. Under the guise of pulling her out of traffic, I would encircle her bicep and switch her to the side away from the cars, or rest my hand lightly on her lower back to usher her through a door. Having grown up in a culture that emphasized chivalry, treating her with gentle firmness came naturally. As it became clear she didn't mind, I would even slide my arm around her waist to change our places as we walked. This was the beginning of the guilt for me. My flirtations had moved from verbal and very brief to more prolonged and physical, however seemingly innocent, my heart and conscience knew I wouldn't be content with that small contact.

Chapter 2: Chris's Point of View -- Oops, that didn't work

Being the new guy at my job, meant I parked in the parking deck that was 2 blocks away. Knowing this, sometimes Ellie would offer me a ride. I generally took her up on it, so we could spend a few minutes together on the way home, outside of work, and often it would turn into longer discussions when she stopped to let me out by the garage. We would joke that the security guy would eventually come out to hassle us, but thankfully nobody did. This reinforced the sense of privacy of sitting in the car, and encouraged her to open up and relax in my presence.

One night as Ellie drove me back to my car, she was complaining of a stiff neck and back. She was wearing a relatively low cut dress that was loose on the top, revealing the tops of her small breasts when she leaned forward. I knew this was my chance to finally get to caress those pert little mounds I'd been dreaming of playing with, so I offered solicitously to massage her neck and back. Ellie parked the car, and undid her seat belt. Still sitting in the driver's seat, she turned her back to me, and I started to massage her neck and shoulders. As Ellie relaxed, I began to knead my fingers up into her hairline, as her hair was down, and laying softly across the backs of my hands. Ever so slowly, I began to move my hands down her neck, massaging the tops and then the edges of her shoulders. When I met with no complaints or resistance, I started massaging the muscles along the front of her shoulders, just below her collarbone, and then let my massaging turn to caressing as my hands dipped lower. I softly stroked the tops of breasts, just inside her dress and all that was obscured by her bra was her nipples. Unfortunately, the awkward position of the car didn't allow me to reach further down to tease her nipples, so I shifted my position to give me more leeway to play with Ellie's body. When I shifted, Ellie's hands came up to catch mine, and she asked softly "What are you doing?" I should have anticipated this, but had to respond "Nothing, just making sure you're fully relaxed."

I knew I had lost the moment and made my excuses to go; feeling my face burning in the dark, I was glad she couldn't see my embarrassment. On the walk to my car, I resolved to end this clearly one-sided series of assignations, as I was feeling guiltier now than I ever had.

That resolve served me all the way until the next morning when she was wearing a red and white dress, that was thin, soft, and hugged her in all the right places. Generally, Ellie wore two to three inch heels, but she had a pair of shoes called "Pleasers" that were four inches, and they certainly fit their name. The shoes turned her calves into even more of an eye catching pair of legs, as they stretched and accentuated her toned muscles and gave a little wiggle to her walk.

After having enjoyed spending time with her on a walk during the day, where I spent most of the time lightly stroking her back through the soft material, I knew I had to try some other tack that night. Also, the fact that she never mentioned my forwardness of the night before, assured me no harm had been done. So, when she dropped me off at my car in the evening, we talked for a bit, and then I got out to leave. I circled around to her side of the car, and wasn't sure what I was thinking but leaned in to finish chatting, and then captured those soft lips with my own. She didn't respond, nor did she pull away; after a brief second, I pulled away when I realized there was no reciprocation. Looking at me with unreadable eyes, she said "I think you should go." I went back to my car, face hot for the second night in a row, thinking "at least she didn't pull away."

Chapter 3: Chris's Point of View -- The Next Steps

Once adjusted to my new job, the hours got longer, which I generally didn't mind because Ellie also worked long hours. Spending more time in the office, meant spending more time appreciating her company and admiring her. Ellie dressed in a classic, classy, feminine style that fit her frame and personality and accentuated her best assets. She worked out, and as such had great legs, firm, but not overly muscular, a nice ass (it just begged for a little *swat*), and what were clearly small, perky breasts. The only downside about how she dressed was, like many girls, she felt the need to wear padded or very thick bras, obscuring her true figure. For me a perfect handful is just right, but I know society's opinion differs from my own, and girls feel the need to kowtow or be mocked.

When it became clear that both of us generally spent some time at work on the weekends, I decided we should start trying to coordinate. I told her it was so we could keep each other accountable, but my real goal was to have her nearby, with fewer people around. A weekend or two of this pattern, and we started to make some time to take breaks to give us a chance to enjoy the weekend together. The little city our office was in had ample locations to explore and we took the opportunities to do so.

Finally, one overcast Sunday afternoon, when we were huddled in "Curt's Used Books," hiding from the cool, gusting air outside, I did what I had been meaning to do for a couple long months. As Ellie reached up for a book, balancing on her tiptoes, I put my arm around her waist (not an entirely unexpected occurrence at this point), and spun her around to face me. She leaned in towards me, as she was overbalanced on her toes before I turned her. I then leaned down and captured those soft lips again, that had filled my dreams since our brief one-way kiss before, and kissed her softly, then more demandingly. Ellie didn't respond at first, and when she did it was very tentative. There was a sound down the next aisle, and she immediately pulled away, turning her back to me. I don't remember talking, or if we did, we moved quickly to something mundane about books or authors or the weather.

Feeling a little embarrassed from what to me seemed a bit like a lukewarm response, we left the bookstore, and headed back to the office. We packed up to leave, and I walked her down to her car in the garage, and she offered me a ride. Despite not having gotten the passionate response I hoped for earlier, I decided to try one last gambit. As we got ready to go, with both of us sitting in her car, I reached over and turned her face towards me, then kissed her firmly. With nobody around, and seemingly feeling less self-conscious she responded--she returned the kiss gently at first, then hungrily. As our lips and tongues continued to explore each other, my right hand began to slide over her soft t-shirt, first across her stomach softly, then up her left side more firmly. I ended up palming her left breast and felt her arch into me. With this clear response, I moved my kissing down to her neck, moving hand across her collarbone and pushing the neck of her t-shirt down her shoulder. When I had her shoulder exposed, I tugged the shoulder strap of her bra down and kissed down her neck and across her shoulder to where the strap had been.

At this point, I was so hard I could burst after months of wanting to kiss her, touch her, caress her, and I hadn't even gotten to see her or touch her except through her clothing. Following the line of her bra's shoulder strap, I kissed her collarbone, the soft outside of her breast, and then I had her nipple exposed. I attacked her pink little bud ferociously: sucking on it, pulling it out away from her chest with the suction. Ellie responded better than I could have anticipated, arching her back forcing her breast into my mouth. I replaced my mouth with my hand and kissed my way back up her shoulder, kissing her slightly sweaty skin, enjoying the salty flavor of her. Reaching her mouth, I covered it with my own, sucking on her lips and lightly squeezing her breast, with her nipple pinched between two of my fingers. She moaned softly as we kissed, and moved down her right side, to give her other little nipple the same treatment. As I had her left breast in my hand and her left nipple in my mouth, she grabbed my hair and held me to her, panting softly. I couldn't believe how sensitive and responsive she was, and lightly bit her nipple to feel her twitch softly though not pulling away.

I nibbled my way back to her soft lips, my hand moving softly between her breasts, teasing them and toying with her nipples. We continued to kiss, and slowly let ourselves down from the passionate high we were on. It had grown almost unbearably hot and moist in her little car, and we were both sweaty, so as I pulled away, I leaned down to taste the saltiness of her neck one last time.

We sat mutely for a bit, neither wanting to disturb the companionable, sexually tense, silence, but I knew I had to go. I could feel myself oozing pre-cum from having been so hard wanting her for what had seemed much too long, so I sat and thought about how wonderful her body felt and the passion of her response. Unfortunately, I knew if I sat there any longer, I would try to rush it and probably push too hard, so I looked over and said breathlessly "I should probably go."

I could see in her eyes that she felt as conflicted as I did, though the reasons weren't clear to me then, so I said I would walk to help me cool down.