Shivering Sarah

"You pay me today for my work up till last Friday, for this week of sick leave and for two more weeks, but I clear out my desk today and walk out of here right now."

"Why would I do that?"

"You know, Mr. Smathers, as I mentioned before, my efficiency won't be so good and to put it bluntly, I'm really pissed at Scott. And, quite frankly, I don't appreciate your swearing at me over something that was not my fault. So, do you really want me here feeling the way I do?"

"OK, I see your point, even though I don't like the implied threat," he said to her before he turned away. "Stella," he spoke into his intercom, "Please deposit a termination check into Sarah's account to include all of her work to last Friday and for three additional weeks."

Sarah sat quietly outside of his office until the deposit confirmation was texted to her and then she went over to take a few personal things from her desk. After handing Stella a report on the stolen computer, Sarah walked out of the office with a great sense of relief and a huge smile on her face.

*****

Once back at her apartment she celebrated with a small glass of white wine. She glanced over at the rose in the bud vase and realized that J.J. had truly saved her life and career. After adding a bit of water to the vase she picked up the phone and called his office.

"McLain."

"Uh, Hi J.J., it's Sarah, you know, from last Friday? Uh, I wanted to..., oh this is so embarrassing!"

"What is it Sarah? Oh, and congrats on getting the job, by the way."

"Uh, that's part of why I'm calling. I need to thank you for all you've done for me. You know, rescuing me and then steering me to the job."

"Hey, the choice was all the CEO's responsibility. You got the job fair and square."

"Still, you helped me in so many ways. I, uh, I'd like to give you a little thank you gift..."

"No, Sarah, that won't be necessary."

"I know it's not necessary, but I want to. Could I invite you and your girlfriend over for a home cooked meal this weekend? I'm a pretty good cook and..."

"Sarah, that'd be really sweet. Yes, I'd love to try your cooking and let me ask her if she wants to come also. When and what time?" They made final arrangements and a few hours later J.J. texted and confirmed that he would be bringing Karen with him.

On Saturday Sarah was on fire. She spent the entire morning cleaning nearly the entire apartment until it shone. After a quick lunch she focused her attention on the meal preparation. She had decided on a meal featuring Indian food. While the food is quite good, it does take a lot of work and time to do things right. By five pm the apartment had a wonderful aroma of exotic spices and all the food was prepared. Everything was ready to pop into the oven or on the stove once her guests arrived.

Shortly after six J.J. and Karen arrived with a nice bottle of pinot gris. She greeted them and started to cook the meal as they all chatted and got to know each other. Karen seemed to be a nice woman who engaged Sarah in conversation easily. She had a basic understanding of how Sarah and J.J. had met, but Sarah gently steered the conversation away from that topic, fearing that it might bring up how she was wet and then naked when J.J. first met her.

Both J.J. and Karen helped with the dishes and afterwards they sat in the living area talking, joking and laughing. At one point, Karen asked Sarah where she got the rose in the vase. Sarah merely said that a friend had given it to her while admitting that her boyfriend had dumped her just a couple of weeks prior.

"Don't you go chasing after J.J.," laughed Karen, "He's not available!"

In spite of the laughter, Sarah thought there might be just a tiny bit of venom in Karen's words. She looked quickly at J.J. who seemed embarrassed by the comment. "Oh, don't worry, Karen. You can keep him. Between my ex, the shit coworker at my old work and my boss, I'm swearing off men for now. Sometimes I think they're no good. No offense intended, J.J."

"Well, sometimes they can be of some use," responded Karen, "You just have to train them right."

"Hey, guys, I'm sitting right here," he laughed.

After a few more laughs Karen and J.J. mentioned they enjoyed the dinner and appreciated the invite. As they got up to leave Sarah rose up and gave both tiny hugs and thanked them for coming and repeated her thanks to J.J. for his help.

After they left, she was pleasantly tired and as she had one final glass of wine her mind kept going back to J.J. She really enjoyed being with him but realized he was spoken for and she would never try to cut into another woman's relationship. Plus, she sensed a bit of possessiveness on Karen's part and didn't want to create any enemies.

"Maybe I'm just too nice," she thought. "But he's such a nice guy and pretty hot looking, too. Maybe someday I'll meet someone like him."

*****

On Monday she called her new job and indicated she could start early and they agreed on the following Monday, giving her one last week off. She took a few days to visit her parents who lived a few hours away. Since she got the idea her work at the hospital would involve a bit more formality than she was used to, she shopped for some nicer outfits.

Once on her new job she realized just how bad her previous one had been. Here people were nice and seemed to appreciate her work and ideas. She quickly befriended a few others and enjoyed an occasional TGIF party with them. She was set up with a few men whom she went out with but there never was a true spark, so they remained friendly acquaintances.

Her work was in a different area of the hospital from J.J.'s but she occasionally ran into him. Fairly frequently he would have lunch in the cafeteria and they would share a table and a few laughs. After those lunches she would think about how nice he was but she always remembered he was 'off the market.'

Three months after she started her new job, she was called in for a performance review. The CEO, the HR manager and J.J. were all present and smiles greeted her when she arrived, alleviating her nervousness.

The CEO went first. "Sarah, I am so pleased to hear how well you've been doing in your position. I have a cranky and demanding medical staff, I mean, they're doctors, aren't they? And I was delighted to hear that the Medical Chief of Staff, you know him well by now, of course, has had nothing but praise for your work with the physicians. You listen to them and take their ideas back to the IT nerds, show them how to design the changes and then make it work. All in three months. Very impressive."

"Thank you," said a surprised Sarah.

"And the IT folks have told me because you're a programmer also that you really know how to work with them and make the changes reasonable and doable," add the HR director.

"Well, I appreciate the feedback. I've not had the best of experiences in my professional career and it's nice to hear that I'm doing OK."

"'OK' doesn't do you justice," said the CEO. "You are doing extraordinarily well and I want you to know that I've authorized a bump in your salary to let you know we really value your work and want you to be a part of this organization for a long time."

"Wow, uh, thank you! I'm having trouble believing it..."

"Well," said the HR director, "You'll believe it when you see your next pay report. Thank you for all you've done."

"And as the crotchety financial hawk here, I am not one to approve many sudden pay raises, but you deserve this," said J.J., breaking his silence.

"Well, Sir," she said in a teasing voice, "I won't tell anyone you actually have a heart. It might ruin your reputation."

After everyone had finished laughing, she got up to go and thanked them all for giving her a chance at the position. Just as she turned away, she saw J.J. give her a slight smile and a quick wink. That wink said more to her than all the words of praise.

She hurried from the office with a good feeling about her work and herself. Sarah had moved past the heartbreak of being dumped right before Valentines and though she didn't miss her ex anymore, she did miss that feeling of being with someone special. And she missed the sex! Polishing her pearl gave her nice orgasms, but she missed that feeling of a hard cock plunging in and out and the closeness associated with another body in bed with her. Though she was happy with her professional situation, she hoped that someday she'd meet someone who could fulfill her personal needs.

*****

Over the next few months she continued to do well at work and enjoyed her coworkers. On one occasion a salesman named Jim dropped by her office to try and get her to switch to his line of products. As she and the department were perfectly satisfied with their current equipment, she declined his offer. He, however, seemed to be a perfectly nice guy and she innocently flirted with him a tiny bit.

The next time he came to her office she teasingly greeted him. "Wow, you won't take 'no' for an answer, will you?" she laughed. "You're like some of the guys I knew back in high school."

"Hey, I have to admit I was hoping you'd like to try our product line, but I'm back today seeing the folks down in admitting. They're thinking of upgrading their equipment, so I put in a bid."

"Oh, good, I hope you have a good product and I hope you're successful. But why'd you come up here?"

"Well, uh," he stammered a bit, "I was hoping to sell you something else: me!"

"What?"

"Uh, would you maybe consider having dinner with me some evening, you know, just for fun."

"Jim, you salesmen are all alike," she laughed. "You'll use any excuse to try and get me to buy your product!"

"No, seriously, this would be just for fun, no talk of business, I promise."

"So, a date, huh?" she asked, realizing the nature of his request.

"Yeah, a date. No pressure, just dinner."

Sarah thought about it a bit and decided that he really seemed nice and maybe dinner would be a good excuse to get to know him better outside of work. She accepted his offer and they agreed to meet at the restaurant which was a two-minute walk from her apartment.

On the evening of the date she found herself quite nervous. She wanted to look nice and sexy, but not slutty. Finally, she found the right combination of a thin blouse over which she could wear a loose sweater. She decided to keep the top few buttons undone to give just a hint of cleavage. Her skirt was fairly snug around her butt yet was loose enough that she could easily walk. She rarely wore heels at work but since Jim was a fairly tall guy, she decided to try some two-inch heels.

"Nice heels, but no fuck-me-pumps tonight. Don't want him to get the wrong idea," she thought to herself. The walk to the restaurant was a bit slower than usual, due to the heels, but she arrived just as he was dropping off his BMW with the valet. As he rounded the rear of the car, she realized he was a very nice-looking man and she was looking forward to the evening with him.

"Hi, seems we're both on time," he chuckled as he greeted her with a tiny one-arm hug.

She looked at him with a bit of a surprised look on her face and responded, "Yeah, I guess we are. Hungry?"

He nodded 'yes' and grabbed her hand as he led the way into the building. Once they were seated and had ordered a glass of wine each, they began to talk about themselves and to get to know each other. He told her of growing up fairly poor in a small farming community in Wyoming and of how he managed to go to college with scholarships, working part-time and with heavy, physical work in the shale fields each summer.

"Now I see where you get your nice muscles," she said and then immediately blushed. "Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that to you," she giggled.

"No, it's OK. I haven't been in the fields for years, but I try to hit the gym several times a week to keep fit. What about you? You exercise?"

"Some. I usually do light aerobics and stretches at home, nothing fancy. Up until lately I couldn't afford a gym membership, anyway."

Conversation then turned more to her telling him about herself. She was a single child from a town about two hours away. Her dad was still working as a retail pharmacist and her mom was a part-time librarian. Sarah told him of her degree in computer science with a minor in design.

Their dinner was quite nice and they loitered near the end, neither wanting the evening to end too soon. Eventually they were politely nudged out the door just as the restaurant was closing.

"It's getting late, should I drive you home?"

"No, it's just two blocks, you don't need to bother."

"It's no bother, I'd rather know you got to your door safely, if you don't mind."

"Sure," she replied, thinking about whether she should invite him in. Once they got to the alley leading to her apartment, he hopped out of the car leaving it double parked and escorted her to the main door. "I had a really nice time, Jim, thanks for inviting me."

"The pleasure was all mine. My only request is that we get together again some time."

"That would be lovely, yes, I'd like that," she whispered. He then suddenly wrapped his arms around her and bent his head down for a kiss. They shared a moderately intimate kiss for a few seconds before he broke away.

"Gotta go, don't want a ticket. Good night Sarah, sweet dreams," he whispered as he turned away.

Sarah watched him until he got in his car and turned to her door. Once inside, she thought about the evening. Jim was clearly a nice guy, good looking and was a gentleman though she was a bit surprised that the simple good-night kiss seemed a bit more involved than she had anticipated. Other than that, he was polite and didn't try to push anything. "All in all, not a bad date. I'm glad he wants to ask me out again," she thought.

Their next date was a week later. He picked her up, accepted a kiss on his cheek as she hopped into the car and they drove off to a gardening show. It had been his idea and she had agreed, even knowing that there was nothing there that could interest her since she had no garden and lived in an upstairs apartment. To her surprise she had a great time. There were exhibits of patio gardens and she decided that maybe her balcony, tiny though it was, could hold a couple of plants. Jim was clearly more interested in the yard and large garden displays. When she asked him, he admitted he had just purchased a smaller, old house and wanted to fix it up, both indoors and out.

"I'd like to see it sometime," she said as they walked along with her resting her hand loosely around his elbow. "You gonna invite me?"

She asked with a slightly suggestive smile on her face.

"Uh, sure, be glad to. It's a mess right now, dusty from all the work I'm doing inside. I'll need to clean it up a bit."

"I won't mind a little bit of dust," she responded, thinking that, somehow, this might lead to something nice. "Hey, let's grab a bite at the roach coach outside and walk around downtown," she said, changing the subject a bit. They spent the next hour or so just wandering around, talking and enjoying themselves.

It was late afternoon when they got back to his car and she suggested that he come up to her apartment for a quick dinner. "I can make a mean frittata in no time at all. And I've got some nice, fresh bread and a cold bottle of wine. Interested?"

He was able to find a place to park just a block from her place and followed her up the stairs. She felt a bit self-conscious knowing he was probably staring at her butt, however she hoped it might get him a bit more interested in her. At her place she gave him the nickel tour of the tiny one-bedroom apartment. As he excused himself to go to the bathroom, she readied the ingredients for the meal and poured out the wine. Later they toasted each other and had a nice, quick meal. He helped her clean up in the kitchen and they then retired to the small couch.

"Now I need to let him know I'm interested, but I don't want him to think I'm a slut," she thought to herself. "How am I going to do that?"

"That was far more fun than I anticipated," she said to him. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Yeah, it was. You think you might put a couple of plants on the balcony?"

"Yep. Maybe some succulents in case I forget to water them," she laughed.

"You gotta take care of even them now and then."

"I know, but I do better taking care of people..." she whispered as she drew her finger along his forearm. With that she leaned over to him and tipped her head up, inviting a kiss. He bent down and their kisses began sweet and soft but rapidly became more intense and probing. In no time at all their tongues were teasing each other and she became aware of him reaching around and giving her warm hugs.

Sarah found herself getting quite turned on. It had been months since she'd been intimate and she was, quite frankly, horny. There was a niggling thought in the back of her mind that good girls don't hop in the sack on the second date. She was not into the 'hook up' culture and didn't believe in casual sex. But Jim had checked off lots of boxes: Attractive, smart, employed, had money, polite; the list went on and on. She thought to herself that maybe she'd go ahead and take the risk and encourage him further. With that she grabbed his right hand and guided it to her breast.

"That should be hint enough," she thought. Jim started to stroke her breast through her blouse and it felt really good to her. After a few minutes his hand slid up to her buttons and he slowly undid them, one at a time. "I'll let him go to the waist, but no further," she mused to herself. Eventually the blouse was pulled free and slipped off her shoulders. She sat up, proudly stretched out and emphasized her breasts to him. His eyes were glued to her torso. Suddenly he reached around and deftly unhooked the strap. His hands slowly pulled her bra off and she sat proudly in front of him.

"Nice," he whispered as he bent down to take a nipple into his mouth.

His kissing and sucking were divine and sent shocks of lust straight to her pussy. She could feel herself rapidly moisten and she knew that if she didn't slow things down soon, they'd end up back in her bedroom.

"Uh, Jim, Sweetheart, that feels really nice, but let's take it easy just a bit, here."

Jim pulled back a bit and looked at her and replied, "Sarah, I think we both know that you and I are more than interested in taking this further, so don't back off now."

"Oh, I know I want to go further, but just not so fast..."

"Why wait? We're two consenting adults and how's another week or two going to make any difference?"

"I just don't want to appear to be slutty."

"If I promise you that I don't think you're a slut, would that change your mind?"

"Jim, I really want to, it's just..."

"Just what? Here, I'll take my shirt off and we can see how it feels to have skin on skin. If you still want to wait, I'll wait. I'll leave it up to you."

Oh, how he felt so good to Sarah. The slightly coarse hairs on his chest gently teased her nipples as they came together for more hugs. Her mind wanted her to wait but her pussy was demanding action. "It's too soon," she thought to herself, "But he sure feels good!"

"Here," she whispered, "Let's get naked and see how it feels."

"Now we're talking," he responded as he started pulling at his belt. In no time they were down to their underwear. Sarah looked at him and his boxers. They did not hide an obvious erection so she reached over to stoke it as it throbbed in anticipation.

"Nice," she said, as she reached inside to feel his cock. It was smooth, rock hard with a softness of the head and she had to see it. She gently pulled his boxers down before pulling her own panties down. At that moment she knew she'd go all the way, there was no chance of going back now. "I've never hopped into the sack so fast," she thought to herself before she whispered to him "Yeah, let's go back to the bedroom."