Ep. 01: Meet Cute Ch. 03

Chapter 3

My weekend was packed with family events which only did a little to keep Laurel off my mind. Between her and work, I was mentally checked out. I snapped out of it when my cousin Emily waved her hand in my face. "Hello?"

"Oh. Hi Emily. Sorry. I was somewhere else," I apologized.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, just a lot on my mind with work... and this girl I met," I told her. I hadn't seen Emily in a few years, but we were always fairly close.

"Oooh, let's hear about this girl," she pestered me.

"There's nothing to tell really. I just met her." Well, I hadn't even actually met her.

"But you're thinking about her," Emily said in a sing-song way.

"Yeah, she seems pretty great," I told her.

"Well, maybe I'll get to meet her one day," Emily said with her usual optimism.

"Yeah," I laughed. "Maybe."

Monday morning came all too quickly and I knew I had a lot to get done this week. This might be a sprint and a marathon all at once, but at least I could bring in a temp now. I sat down at my desk and started skimming resumes. This would be a perfect task for a temp to do, I laughed to myself. There were some applicants that were quick no thank yous and a few maybes. I had several quality resumes and I emailed each of them to set up an interview ASAP.

*Ding* It was Laurel. "How was your family thing this weekend?"

"Pretty good." I was happy to hear from her. "Got to catch up with one of my favorite cousins.

"Nice!" she replied.

"It was. Now I'm full speed ahead with this work assignment. I get to hire a temp assistant though, so that's good."

"Oh good," she messaged back.

We chatted a few more minutes, and I would have chatted all day, but the clock was ticking so I excused myself and told Laurel that I'd text her tonight.

I spent the rest of my morning mapping out my week and figuring out what I could delegate to a temp. I received some replies about the job before lunchtime and set up interviews for the following morning. I let the candidates know that if hired, they'd be asked to start right away. I powered through the rest of my day, eating both lunch and dinner at my desk. I made great progress on my work and by 9:30 pm I headed home with candidates lined up for interviews at 9:00, 9:30, and 10:00 am the next morning.

I got home and texted Laurel. "Hey. I made it home!"

"Congratulations!"

"How was your day?" I asked.

"Pretty average. Nothing exciting. You?"

I told her a little about my day and my plans for Tuesday. "So, I've got interviews in the morning and then hopefully I'll have an assistant by the afternoon."

"You move fast," she said.

Was that an innuendo, I wondered. I decided to lean into it. "Only with the right person."

"How do you know if it's the right person?" she asked.

"Sometimes there's just chemistry," I responded.

We texted about movies, places we wanted to visit, and found all kinds of things in common. Both of us were lovers of puns, double-entendres, and all sorts of wordplay. We found ourselves joking as we got to know each other.

"You know why my second to last relationship ended?" I asked her.

"I don't think so."

"Well it was really because of my tremendous sex drive."

Pause. Then she sent back, "Oh yeah?" followed by a laugh/cry emoji.

"Yeah, she lived forty-five miles away."

"LOL!!!" she wrote. "I'm laughing so hard!"

"You know what else is so hard?" This is what happens when you're lust drunk, but also a little drunk-drunk.

"What?" She played along. I imagined Laurel grinning at her phone the same way I do.

"Me when I think about making out with you," I wasn't masking my intentions anymore.

"Mmm. Sounds great. I can almost feel your hardness pressing against me."

"Throbbing as my tongue meets yours and our mouths dance." I reached for my cock.

"Mmm, feel my big boobs pressed against you as I meet your kiss."

"I can only imagine how good they'll feel," I said, imagining the feeling of her soft breasts pushed onto my chest. I started stroking my cock at the thought. I really wanted her. "Pulling you tight as my tongue explores your mouth."

"Mmm yeah, Jack. My hand is in my panties now," she blurted out. I could tell she was feeling the same way about me as I was feeling about her.

I wanted her so bad. This sexting just wasn't good enough. "I really wish that I had you on my interview calendar for tomorrow." I added a wink emoji.

"Ha!" she replied.

"Yeah, totally ridiculous, right?" A first date in a private office under the pretense of a job interview, what could go wrong.

"Totally," she replied. "I guess."

"Laurel, would you consider meeting me at my office tomorrow at 11:00?" I hesitated then hit send. My heart pounded in my chest and my mouth got dry. Did I just send that? What am I doing? I could feel my palms begin to sweat a little. Two minutes went by. Then a third. It seemed like forever.

"Address? Sorry, I had to clear something on my calendar."

"Uh, seriously?" I hadn't really thought this out.

"Don't give me a chance to change my mind."

Without hesitation I typed, "777 Figueroa St. #1801," and hit send.

"I'll have to polish up my resume," she joked.

"Don't forget to dress... secretarial," I hinted.

"I have just the shoes." She added a wink emoji.

Laurel and I decided not to sext any further in anticipation of meeting in person in the morning. We made small talk for a while before going off to bed. I was so nervous and excited, thinking about meeting Laurel and what it would be like to have a first kiss in my office. It rained heavily that night which is fairly unusual in Los Angeles and the sound outside my bedroom window carried me off to sleep.

I woke up early to spend some extra time looking good for my "interview" with Laurel today. While I usually dressed more casually for work, when we had meetings or interviews, it was customary to wear a suit. I picked out one of my newer suits, dark charcoal with a subtle herringbone design. I buttoned up my dress shirt and tied a Windsor knot in my paisley tie. My hair cooperated and my beard was nicely groomed as I walked out the door.

As I prepared for the interviews, I wondered if this was a good idea. How was I going to focus on the candidates in front of me with my meeting with Laurel just hours away? Maybe it was a good thing. I would be distracted by the task at hand and time would fly by. Right?

My first candidate was prompt and prepared, right at 9:00. That was a great way to start things off. Brian was inexperienced but professional. He asked a lot of questions about the work he'd be doing if hired. We moved through the questions and wrapped up right on time.

My second candidate showed up at 9:34, four minutes late. This was a pet peeve of mine but this candidate, Allie, was the most qualified and most promising based on our previous phone conversation, so I tried to keep an open mind during the interview. She was engaging and intelligent and it seemed like we'd work well together. We were vibing so well, that we actually went over our time. Allie was clearly overqualified for the job, and was asking to be paid appropriately for her experience. It was well over the budget I'd been given so I thanked her for the interview and told her I'd be in touch.

I apologized to my 10:00 as Allie walked out of my office at 10:12. My thoughts jumped to Laurel. She'd be here in less than an hour. Focus! "Hi, I'm Jack. Come on in."

Rebecca's interview was solid. She was looking to get some entry level experience on her resume and pay wasn't a top priority for her. I was strongly leaning towards hiring her. I wondered if it would be worth it to pay Allie what she was asking and if I could be more productive that way. I texted her that I was interested in hiring her but that my boss was firm on his budget. She told me to keep her in mind for a bigger role next time, and I agreed.

I was able to catch Rebecca via text, still in the parking lot. I glanced at my watch. 10:47. I walked outside and offered her the job on the spot.

"Like we discussed on the phone, I'm looking for someone to start today," I said, extending my hand.

"Oh great!" She shook my hand and we headed back inside.

I showed her where the HR office was. "They'll do some quick on-boarding paperwork here and you can report to my office at 1:00," I told her.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it," Rebecca replied.

I dropped her off there and headed to the men's room. 10:53. I looked in the mirror and messed with my hair for a minute, just for it to end up looking exactly the same. Here we go. I headed back to my office to wait for Laurel.

10:58 There's a knock on my door. My heart was pounding in my chest. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. I forced myself to take a deep breath as I walked to open the door. Laurel walked in with a professional portfolio pad tucked under her arm. The sun coming in the window illuminated the fiery copper in her hair. She wore a black pencil skirt of sensible length with a light pink button up blouse with the top 2 buttons open and the third struggling to do its job. Her curves were more impressive in person than I expected. To my delight, beneath the pencil skirt, Laurel wore black seamed stockings with black Mary Jane heels.

"Finally!" I said as I closed the door behind her. "We meet at last," I tried to keep my grin subdued.

"It's so good to meet you," she said as she met my gaze. Her cheeks almost dimpled as her soft smile grew.

As we stood right behind the door to my office, I pulled her close and kissed her. Our lips met for the first time. I pressed in softly. Laurel's lips were warm and slightly wet. She parted her lips slightly in invitation and I dove in with my tongue. The anticipation of the kiss did not overshadow the moment. We embraced; her soft breasts pressed against me as my tongue met hers between our lips. I reached around and firmly grabbed her ass with my right hand and pressed my tongue firmly into her mouth. She let out an almost imperceptible, involuntary moan. The embrace lasted moments but the chemistry was instantaneous.

Laurel reached behind her and locked the door.