Her Bully

I didn't want to be too obnoxious, but I pushed them for a second room and was told that was impossible, and that there was nothing else available anywhere even remotely close. When we went to our room, I got my second shock. There was only one queen size bed in the room. Not only did we have to share a room, we had to share a bed.

Not only did they have no extra rooms, they also had no extra bed for us. Their attitude was that we were both women, so there shouldn't be a problem. Angie seemed amused by it all, and since we had to work together, I didn't want to make too big a stink. I might not want to share a bed with her, but I also needed her cooperation on this project.

Angie tried to make light of it. "Well Miri, we might have to share a bed, but we don't have to cuddle -- unless you want to, of course."

"I don't think we should do that."

"Obviously neither of us will be bringing anyone back to our hotel room -- unless you're into threesomes."

"I had no intention of bringing anyone back."

"No threesomes then either?"

"Definitely not."

"Then I guess we just have to cuddle with each other."

"I -- don't -- think -- "

"I'm just pulling your chain, Miri."

"Okay, good."

Angie turned away and began unpacking up her clothes, then spoke. "Let me know if you change your mind about cuddling."

I stood, open mouthed as she emptied her suitcase. I was pretty sure she wasn't serious, but still it was a bit disconcerting. I've tried not to be open about my interest in women around the office. I don't exactly do much outside the office either. I know it's hardly seen as negatively now as it used to be. I've talked and very lightly flirted with a few women, just never found anyone to be serious about.

Okay, I could do hookups, and when I was in college, I hooked up with a few women. It just didn't seem the same now. Besides, I was serious about my career, and I don't want a demanding partner who makes that harder. Maybe that seems weird. I know a relationship means each having to adapt to the needs of the other. I wasn't ready to adapt quite yet.

Angie didn't make any more comments of that sort, so after a bit, we went down to the hotel restaurant to get some dinner. I know our expenses were being covered by the client, but I had no intention of abusing that, or even giving the impression that I might abuse it. I told Angie we should have a nice meal, but not go crazy with expensive food or drink.

We each had a glass of house white wine -- a chardonnay, I think. We were told the servings were generous, so we split an appetizer and an entrée. By the time we were done, neither of us had room for desert. We slowly sipped our wine while chatting. I was wired about the project and went on about what we knew and still had to find out and how we might approach it.

I paused, and Angie looked at me before speaking. "You may have trouble believing this, but I've always admired you."

"Maybe now, but certainly not in school."

"No, even then. All the other girls tried to play the game. I wanted to be part of the cool girls."

"I think you were."

"Only at a cost. In the early years, I had to wear what the in crowd wore, do the things they did, date the boys they approved of, and dump on the girls they didn't like."

"Like me."

"You were yourself. You never changed to please anybody. That's part of the reason they targeted you. And if I wanted to be one of them, I had to do that too."

"I wasn't trying to be different."

"You just wanted to be you. By the time I was one of the older girls, I couldn't change without having the rest turn on me."

"So you were mean to me."

"And all the time, I wished I had the guts to just be myself, like you did. You had the courage and backbone that I never could."

"So why tell me this now?"

"Because I want you to understand that I really am sorry. In spite of what I did to you then, you helped me save my job."

"We either succeeded or failed together, and I don't want to fail."

"You are and always have been a better person than me."

"You make it sound better than it really is."

"I don't know that we can ever really be friends. I just want you to know that I don't ever want to be the girl you knew in school."

"That's a little hard to accept, but thank you."

We were sitting side by side at the table. With that, she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. I was as shocked as I've ever been. We had already charged our meal to our room. She got up and said we needed to get some rest to be ready for tomorrow. I was still in shock as we walked back to the room. She grabbed something and went in the bathroom and I changed to a pair of shorty pajamas.

I crawled into bed and turned out the light on my side. A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom wearing a negligee and panties that were almost transparent. She carefully hung up her clothes then got into bed and turned the light out on her side. There was a very dim light in the room as she snuggled into bed.

"Good night, Miri."

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I slept fitfully. Honestly, it's been a while since I shared a bed with anyone. Most of my few college hookups left after we had pleasured each other. I did fall very soundly asleep, and found Angie in my dreams. Sometimes she was the witch from school, tormenting me. Other times, she was kissing and touching me. Honestly, I wasn't sure which was worse.

Sure I know making love is better than being bullied. I just didn't think than Angie was the person I wanted to make love with. I had fallen asleep with my back to Angie on the bed. I obviously tossed and turned a bit. When I woke up in the morning, I was lying on my back. I also found Angie's head on my shoulder and my arm around her.

There's the old thing of the animal caught in a trap that chews off its arm to escape. That popped into my mind though I could hardly chew off my shoulder. I lay there wondering how to extricate myself, when Angie woke up. At first, she had a contented sigh, then she stiffened before having a short sharp laugh. I lifted my arm and she rolled off my shoulder.

"Well, Miri, I didn't think we'd be cuddling so quickly."

"I don't know how -- "

"No harm, no foul, right?"

"Right. I guess we'd better get ready for work."She leaned over and gave me another kiss on the cheek. I was almost frozen in place. She got out of bed, still wearing the almost transparent outfit. It was clear she had perky boobs and her nipples were quite hard. It also was pretty clear that she shaved her mound. I wasn't trying to look at her body, it was just hard not to see.

"Since I'm out of bed already, I'll shower first -- unless you want to join me."

I was pretty sure she wasn't serious, but she said it quite deadpan. I lay there gaping at her as she turned and went on the bathroom. I picked out my clothes for the day and laid them out. Angie came out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around her. I was glad she had the towel and scooted into the bathroom before she took it off.

I showered then wrapped a towel around myself to come out. Angie had dressed and went in the bathroom to do her hair and makeup. I quickly dressed and brushed out my damp hair. I never wore makeup and seldom did anything with my hair other than brush it. I was ready by the time she was finished in the bathroom, so we went to the continental breakfast the hotel had for its guests.

The client's office was not far off, but we drove there. They gave up temporary staff badges, as they would to any of their contractors, then had a small conference room for us to jointly use as an office. I suppose they could have put us in cubes, but it was handy, since we had to regularly meet with their staff to work out details of what we were doing.

We had a meeting in that room later in the morning with four of their people who were involved in this project from their side. I was able to clarify some things that I would be working on. They gave me some tweaks that I'd have to make on the coding side. Angie talked with them about the artistic side of how the finished project should look.

For my part, I'd have been inclined to put most of it on a single screen, but Angie understood how intimidating that could be so with the client's okay we broke that into several smaller screens. We spent almost two hours discussing various aspects of what we were doing for them, and had a good understanding and general agreement about it all.

It was almost lunch time by the time we were done with them, so Angie and I went to their small in-house cafeteria. They had given us lunch vouchers so we made use of that. The food there was basic but decent and we went through the line, got our food and found a table. Several people came up to us as we ate and introduced themselves, though we'd talked or zoomed with a couple of them previously.

Angie chatted with me pleasantly during lunch. Anyone looking would never have realized how she had tormented me so many years earlier. A few guys tried chatting her up, obviously interested in her, but she was cool and distant and managed to discourage them. One woman came up while we were there and was clearly interested in Angie.

Angie's response was to tell her that her girlfriend would not approve of her seeing anyone else. After saying that, Angie grabbed my hand and looked at me as though I was the girlfriend she spoke of. I managed to not look shocked and gave her a little smile. Once the woman left, Angie turned loose of my hand and we resumed eating.

I knew damned well that I was not Angie's girlfriend and had trouble believing she wanted me to be, even if we were sharing a bed. Still her behavior in the hotel room and now the lunchroom had blown my teeny tiny mind. As I've said, there's no doubt that I found Angie physically attractive, and I clearly prefer woman as my romantic interests. Still, there was no way I was ready for Angie to be my lover.

We went back to work after our lunch break and began to dive into this project. Angie and I had worked on a few projects together by this time, though never when we were elbow to elbow. I normally have a single minded focus on my work, but it was easy to be distracted by having Angie right there. We took a break in the afternoon, between working away, and meeting with stakeholders.

After a while, I began to think that if it weren't for our history, I could easily be attracted to Angie. I had trouble thinking she was really serious though. I knew she had been dating lots of guys in school, but never gotten the feeling that she had any interest in women. Still, she seemed to get some kicks out of flirting with me and teasing me.

Was this yet another way of tomenting me? Was she leading me on only to shoot me down spectacularly? Honestly I had trouble believing it was anything else. I could easily see a situation where I responded positively to one of her flirtations only to have her tell me that she couldn't believe I was taking her seriously. As I said, there was a metric ton of baggage between us already.

We put in a full day at the client site, then two of the upper level people wanted to take us to dinner at a very nice restaurant in town. Kyle and Sylvia picked our brains on where we were going with it all and what we thought might improve it. There was something I had suggested in the earlier meetings which was dismissed by the folks at that meeting.

I explained to them why I thought it might make their project better. They had some technical background and we kicked it back and forth, before they told me to go ahead with it and they would tell the others they'd approved it. I was pleased, because I really thought it would make the new system better. A little later, Sylvia and Angie went to the bathroom together.

After they left, Kyle turned to me. "So I hear that you and Angela are an item."

"No, we really aren't. One woman seemed to be coming on to Angie and that was her way of gently discouraging her."

"The two of you seemed close."

"We knew each other in high school, though we ran in different crowds. There's never been anything between us."

"Because you didn't want to or because she didn't want to?"

"As far as I know, her romantic interest is strictly in guys, though she likes to flirt with both men and women."

"Okay then."

"Don't spread that around. I think she wants to avoid entanglements while we're here."

"And you're a good foil for discouraging others."

"Exactly."

"If you say so."

"We're just two people who work together."

"Very closely."

"Not that closely."

Kyle just smiled at me, and about that time Sylvia and Angie returned from the restroom. We finished our dinner, which included wine, of course. I had a glass or two, but Angie indulged more than I did. Kyle and Sylvia dropped us off at our hotel, where they'd picked us up. We went to our room, though Angie was a bit tipsy.

When we got in the room, Angie immediately started taking off her clothes. Last night she'd changed in the bathroom, but that night she stripped bare right in front of me. Now given how sheer her garments were last night, I had pretty much seen everything she had, not that I wanted to perv on her. She went a bit farther that evening, skipping panties and just wearing a sheer nightie.

She hopped in bed, sat up there and turned on the television. I went ahead and changed into my shorty pajamas again, then she patted the bed beside her, inviting me to sit down on the bed. I knew she was drunk and even if she wanted, I'd never be intimate with a woman who was intoxicated. When I sat down, she scooted over closer to me and put an arm around me.

I kind of stiffened, though she didn't seem to notice. She leaned over putting her head on my shoulder and before long she was asleep. I muted the television and leaned back and even though I was not as intoxicated as Angie, soon fell asleep also. A little later, she got up to go to the bathroom, and I slid down under the covers and turned on my side facing away from her side of the bed.

I felt her get back into bed, then scoot up to spoon me. My mind was a mass of confusion as I heard her fall quite asleep. It took me longer, but I ended up dropping off also, still more than a bit conflicted over the physical closeness she seemed to be initiating. I still didn't think she was really interested in me and was quite certain I didn't want an office romance regardless.

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When I woke up in the morning, Angie was still spooning me, however now her hand had snuck under my pajama top and was cupping one of my boobs. What bothered me most was that it felt good. I'd spent the night with a few lovers and most had not had much physical contact as we slept. Beyond that, it had been a while since I'd slept with anyone.

I pulled away and went to the bathroom, though as I extricated myself, I heard a sleepy disappointed moan. As I sat on the toilet peeing, I was literally shaking. Some of the folks at the client already thought we were lovers, and Angie was starting to behave almost like we were. We had not made love, but she was upping the intimacy level.

After I peed, I went ahead and took a shower, then came out with a towel around myself. Angie was up and went in to shower as soon as I was out. I dressed, then yelled into the bathroom that I'd meet her at breakfast, then left the room quickly. I wasn't sure what else she might do, but didn't want to wait around to find out.

I had a leisurely breakfast and checked emails and updated my company on how we were proceeding. Angie came down and joined me, looking as put together as she always does. She looked like she might have a touch of a hangover, but I had some aspirin in my satchel. She thanked me and quickly downed two, then just got some fairly bland pastry and fruit for breakfast.

"I definitely should not drink that much."

"You did seem to be under the influence last night."

"I hope I didn't say or do anything really stupid."

"When we got back to the hotel, you seemed to have lowered inhibitions."

"Everything was good around the clients?"

"I don't know what you said to Sylvia in the restroom, but nothing untoward at the table."

"Well, Miri, Sylvia seemed to think you and I were a thing."

"So did Kyle, but I told him we were just coworkers."

"I hope he believed you."

"Just don't use physical affection with me to chase off any more admirers."

"They did seem to be swarming yesterday."

"You're very beautiful, and that draws attention."

"You think I'm beautiful?"

"You know you are, but we're working together and have a project to complete, and something like that could make it harder for us."

"It's sometimes hard to decide if people really are attracted to me, or just want to get into my panties.

"Angie, we all need more than just someone who's physically attracted to us."

"We work with what we've got."

"You have an artistic sensibility that's beyond anything that I could manage."

"It's sweet of you to say that."

"It's true. My screens are dull and pedestrian. That's why they assigned you to handle that part of our projects."

"But your logic and coding are far beyond what I could ever do."

"We have complementary skills. That's why we make a good team."

"A good team."

"Don't knock it Angie. That's why you didn't get canned after your debacle with Raoul."

"You saved me."

"And your screens made the clients rave. If they hadn't they'd have me working with someone else."

"You'd probably rather be doing that anyhow."

"I've put school behind us and am focusing on what we're doing now."

"Thanks. That's probably better than I deserve."

"Your designs are first rate, but maybe today we take our lunch back to our room, so you don't have to fight off the guys who want into your panties."

"And women too."

"Yes, women too -- even me, but I won't let anything interfere with my job."

"It was nice snuggling with you last night."

I know I blushed, then quickly closed my laptop and tried to scurry us off to work. We were easily up early enough to be there on time, but I didn't like where the conversation might be going. We went to the client's office, went to our little room and went to work. I thought I saw Angie sneaking looks at me occasionally through the day, but tried to pretend that I didn't.

We both made decent progress during the day, and had some additional conferences with client stakeholders. There was no doubt that we had a long way to go, but we seemed to be heading in the right direction. I worked with Angie on what fields needed to appear on which screens, along with size and formatting. We did have to make some tweaks based on what the people told us.

I certainly worked as hard as I ever had on a project, in part because I knew we had a long way to go to get it done and right. After a while, I was so deep into my design and coding that Angie's antics from yesterday, were long forgotten. We did eat lunch in our little conference room, though we had folks come in to talk to us while we ate.

Overall, I was pleased with what we both accomplished. Since they didn't want to pay overtime wages, we wrapped it up after our eight hours. Since we didn't have anyone wanting to wine and dine us, we went back to the hotel and had a nice meal in the restaurant there. That restaurant was nothing spectacular, but the food was decent.

After dinner, we returned to the room. That night, Angie went into the bathroom to change, and wore something a little less see through. I put on my pajamas while she changed in the bathroom. We sat on the bed and watched some television, though Angie was not trying to snuggle up to me. In one sense, I'd enjoyed the snuggling, but I knew we had to be more professional.