Tara

Life had started to lose a bit of lustre for me recently. The excitement of my early twenties had been slowly winding down, and becoming the sensible adult I was meant to be was the main focus of things. I had been working in the same job for a few years now, steadily getting promoted up the chain, more responsibilities, more corporate bullshit, more headaches, not much more money.

As soon as it was economically viable, I had moved out of my parents' house and gotten my own place. It was nice, spacious, and had two bedrooms. I had looked around for ages before getting it and had only gotten the apartment after a great deal of signing paperwork and gathering various character references and guarantors. The apartment was therefore slightly beyond my means, necessitating a strong work ethic and the ability to hold down a weekend job for extra cash.

I found I preferred my weekend job to my daily grind. I would sit in a carpark and hand out tickets to people as they drove in and charge them as they drove out. It was one of those jobs where you could easily be replaced by an automated kiosk if the owners of the site could be bothered with the installation costs. The view from the kiosk window was nice as it was near the sea and overlooked a stretch of beach. It was a baking hot summers day as I stared at my own reflection in the window of a nearby parked car.

I was up and outside the kiosk, stretching my legs during a slow period. I looked at myself and inspected my face. My youth was just on the downhill stretch now and I could see a grown man looking back at me. I had fairly short cropped, no nonsense brown hair that curled a bit at the front, a square face, and large jaw, covered with scratchy stubble. I had broad shoulders and a slight gut, something which I had been working on with little success. My habit of eating my feelings having made diet and exercise less effective.

I looked back at my memories of my teenage years, when I had no responsibilities and had been thin and confident, and I wondered what had happened, how in the span of just a few years I had let myself settle into this mediocre life. Just then a car pulled up and I walked back over to the booth to hand the driver a ticket. Inside the car was a young couple who's beaming smiles and beach attire only made me feel worse. That night I went home and drank a few beers and ate a tub of ice cream.

*BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP*

5:45 AM. My alarm goes off. Another day of corporate responsibility. I got up, brushed my teeth, and got ready for work. I walked out of my apartment, locked the door and headed to the bus stop. I still didn't have a car, affordability and lack of spare time to do lessons had converged to mean I still spent twenty minutes a day sat in a stuffy overpriced cattle trailer, surrounded by school kids and alcoholics. Luckily, I had headphones in and was able to stare out the window at green fields and listen to an audiobook, letting my own problems melt away as I imagined the adventures of Frodo and Sam, taking a magical ring to Mordor.

My stop was coming up, so I hit the buzzer and stepped down off the bus. Immediately my body went rigid as I felt the cold water of a puddle immerse my foot. I swore under my breath and squelched off to work. I opened up, got in and sat down at my desk, quietly taking my shoes off and kicking them closer to the space heater to hopefully dry by the end of the day.

The sun was just creeping in over the horizon into my office window as I booted up my pc, casting a deep orange glow over the room. My pc booted up with a low hum and a synthetic chime and I pulled up my emails to start off the day. Waiting for Outlook to load I inspected the glossy spots on the space bar and other keys where my fingers had worn them smooth. "Christ." I muttered as I saw my email notifications start to rattle in. looking at my itinerary, I saw that corporate had sent down a resumé for a new office assistant. Finally, we were getting a bit of help.

Our last OA had quit months ago after she had found a rich man on Bumble who had moved her to his house on the continent to replace his ex-wife. A shame really, as her flowery perfume and tight pencil skirts did brighten my day when she walked by. I inspected the employment portal and was surprised to find that corporate had scheduled an interview for later that afternoon. As if I wasn't busy enough already.

I raced through as much data entry that I could before lunch, and then went down to the office kitchen to get a sandwich and some chewing gum from the vending machine. I didn't put my shoes on and was conscious of the fact that if people saw me walking around in my socks, they might think I had gone a bit mad, however, no one saw me and I got back to my office without incident, noticing the way the carpet felt against my feet as I walked and felt the impact of my weight on the balls of my feet. It was a weird but somehow pleasant feeling that reminded me of when I was younger and would go round to a middle-class family's house and have to take my shoes off.

After lunch I spent a couple more hours putting out minor fires of office admin, and responding to various emails, before I got a buzz through on my office phone. "Miss Greene is here for her interview." Came the monotone voice of the receptionist. "Send her in." I replied. A minute or so later I heard the sound of footsteps approaching my door, followed by a knock. "Come in." My door opened and the receptionist walked in, followed by a young woman.

Immediately I was stunned by her beauty, so much so that as she smiled at me, I felt my face flush red and I quickly smiled politely and looked back to my computer monitor, trying to regain control over the blood vessels in my face. I could feel the sweat start to break out on my palms as she extended a pristinely manicured hand out to me, I quickly shook it, hoping my sweat glands hadn't dampened my hand noticeably yet. "Good afternoon, Miss. Greene." I said as she sat down in the chair opposite my desk. "Oh please, call me Tara."

Her skin was deeply tanned, almost caramel, her hair fell in loose black curls to her mid back and was swept to one side and tucked behind her right ear, which was pierced with a small green gem. This matched her eyes which glittered like emeralds. And popped against the dark black of her generous eyelashes.

Looking more closely at her face I could see subtle freckles peppered across the bridge of her nose, which was small and perfect, upturned in a really cute way. Her lips were full and deeply red. They flared out in a cupid's bow and disappeared in dimples. She had a slight overbite that was barely noticeable but added to her cuteness, making her front incisors appear slightly bigger. Her chin was small but sharp, and her athletic jawline led down to a long and elegant neck.

She was wearing a smart grey suit jacket and a baby blue blouse buttoned up fairly high, and a tight pencil skirt which looked like it might have come from the same shop that the previous office assistant got her clothes from. Her figure was athletic but curvy, she had well-muscled legs which gave the impression that she was a runner or perhaps did a lot of cycling.

Her breasts weren't large but were a nice shape from what I could tell and were probably a D cup. She looked to be slightly older than me, perhaps coming up to 30, but her skin was immaculate, showing nothing of her age except subtle laugh lines by her eyes. She looked like the sort of businesswoman you might see in one of those weird stock photo libraries, but friendlier. The only thing breaking the illusion somewhat was the lace choker around her neck. It was small and formed of four interlocking threads and had the appearance of something you'd expect a gothic teen to wear.

The door shutting behind the receptionist snapped me back to reality. Tara was sitting across from me smiling and fiddling with her watch nervously as I composed myself. The smell of her perfume had made its way over to me and pushed into my mind with a delicate floral scent.

"So, I see here you have 6 years total experience in office administration and data entry, why then have you applied for the job of office assistant?" Tara looked down at her lap and then back up at me and smiled again. "Well, I suppose I really engage with the ethos of this company and wanted to get in on the ground floor in any way I could and use my skills in order to prove my value and help to make the office run as smoothly and efficiently as I can." She said, a small grin forming at the corner of her mouth as she finished the sentence, as if she knew something I didn't.

"So, you're interested in the internal pro...progression programme? Where do you see yourself in the future?" I said, stammering over my words and avoiding eye contact as much as possible, feeling the blood start to leave my brain and gather in my crotch. Tara smiled broadly again and replied, "In that chair you're sitting in, once you've found a better position of course." She winked. I went red again, although this time it felt as if I was going crimson, there was a pressure building in my head that didn't make sense.

I leant over and opened a window; I needed some fresh air. Cool air rushed in, and I felt my faculties return somewhat. "Well... well... internal progression is supported at the company, and I appreciate your candour." I mumbled out as I scrolled through her cover letter. I got to the bottom of it, reading about her hobbies, ah, cycling, I knew it, and my mouse flicked down to the bottom of the employment portal and hit the accept applicant button before I could even think what my hand was doing, we were only minutes into the interview and on some strange impulse I had clicked a button which rationally shouldn't have been clicked for at least the next few hours.

I went red again as my eyes went wide with shock. "Is everything ok?" Tara asked, as I again tried to regain composure. "Yes, everything is fine, I was just looking at an urgent email, apologies, let us continue with the interview..." A phone buzzed in Tara's jacket pocket, and she looked at me. "You don't mind if I check that, do you? I'm expecting a message from my vet about my cat, he's having an operation today." Again, before I could think logically, I nodded my head and told her it was fine, only after she had her hand in her pocket did it occur to me that it could have been an automated email telling her that she had been accepted for the job.

And of course, that's exactly what it was. Tara looked up from her phone and placed it back in her pocket. "Am I really that impressive?" she asked and winked at me again. I didn't know what to do so simply replied "Congratulations." And was about to stand up to shake her hand when I noticed the excruciatingly hard erection tenting the front of my pants. I instead shot out my arm whilst sitting down and Tara stood, looking down at me for the first time.

She smiled a wide and victorious smile and shook my hand with a vice-like grip. "See you tomorrow, Boss." She said as she turned and walked out of the room, giving me the first glimpse of a large and perfectly round butt that I couldn't help but imagine burying my face in. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. I grabbed my water and drank like a crazed marathon runner, trying to cool myself down. How in the hell was I going to get any work done if she was around. Tomorrow I would have to keep my door closed and try not to think about the new hire who would undoubtedly be sitting only a few feet down the hall from my office.

That night it took me a while to get to sleep, but eventually I drifted off. I woke the next morning feeling nervous about the coming day, knowing that I would likely have to face the woman who had embarrassed me so easily.

As I got into work and sat behind my desk I looked out the window. It was a grey start to the day and black clouds in the distance warned of coming rain. I booted up my pc again and started getting ready for the day. Tara would be arriving in a couple of hours and I wanted to have a good portion of my daily tasks done by then.

After an hour or so of typing away I wasn't where I would have liked to be in terms of progress. Thoughts of the mysterious and confident young women from yesterday kept invading my mind. My focus kept drifting and I found myself staring out of the window.

I got up and went to the kitchen to get myself a coffee. As I was walking back I looked out of a large window in the corridor that overlooked the car park. Far below me, just pulling up into the car park was a very nice, low grey saloon car, possibly a jaguar or a BMW but it was too far away to make it out. I didn't recognise the car so stopped and watched as it parked.

The driver side door opened and out of the car emerged Tara, dressed in a long cream coloured woollen coat and leather boots with fairly high wedge heels. Her hair fluttered in the wind and she started walking towards the entrance quickly. She looked up and her eyes locked on me. She smiled that same strange amused smile and waved at me, I froze a little before raising my coffee mug in an awkward act of acknowledgement. Jesus, I thought, she's going to think I'm obsessed with her. As if accepting her application 5 minutes into the interview wasn't bad enough, now I'd been caught staring at her from a window. I rushed back to the office and sat down. I replied to a few emails and tried to put thoughts of Tara out of my head.

*knock* *knock*

I looked up, there was someone at my office door. How odd, I wasn't expecting a meeting and the receptionist hadn't called up. It must be my boss I thought, as I called "come in." Opening the door, there she stood, again. It was Tara. She had removed her coat and was standing in the doorway holding a small gift box.

Today she was wearing a mustard coloured jacket with shoulder pads, a lacey blouse with a high collar, and pin striped trousers. She looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine. "Hi there Boss, I just wanted to come and give you these, I realised I maybe left things a bit awkwardly yesterday and I wanted to apologise." I blinked, not really sure how to take this change in attitude. "Not at all, you don't have to apologise, you had a great Résumé and to be honest you were more than qualified for the position. I apologise for hitting accept so quickly and making the interview awkward myself. I don't quite know what happened. Perhaps I was just excited to see a new face around here." I trailed off, realising I was rambling.

Tara smiled as I took the box from her and looked her in the eye. I could smell her perfume again and it was once again burrowing its way into my mind. With her heels on she was at least as tall as me, maybe a fraction taller, she must have been at least 5 foot 10 when in bare feet. Tall enough to be a model.

"I made those myself by the way, I'm a bit of a chocolatier in my spare time, and that's one of my secret recipes. You're not allergic to nuts are you?" she said, pouting slightly at the thought. "no, no I'm not. Thank you for the chocolates, that's incredibly kind." I smiled at her and went back to sit behind my desk. She stayed standing in the doorway. I looked up at her quizzically as she walked forwards and the door closed behind her." Well, aren't you going to try one?" she said, the strange smile she had earlier creeping back onto her face. It was unnerving in a way but her glittering white teeth, coupled with the thoughtful gift made it difficult not to be charmed.

"Oh, OK, yes of course I'll try one, thank you." I said as I fumbled with the lid. I opened the box and the smell of rich milk chocolates hit my nostrils, the smell was paired with something else that I couldn't quite place, but it was fragrant and sweet smelling and complimented the chocolate well.

I picked one of the chocolates up and bit into it, it was hollow and seemed to have some sort of filling. It was like a sort of French custard or white chocolate ganache, but had some sort of salt or savoury taste mixed in with it. The sweet yet savoury taste was confusing at first, but the flavours complimented each other well and I ended up really enjoying the taste.

I smiled and looked up at Tara ``oh wow, that's really good, what's that filling? Is it some sort of cream cheese frosting or something?" Tara blushed a little and grinned. "yeah sort of, it's a secret recipe so I can't really tell you but I'm really glad you like the taste.'' She moved away from the desk and made a reach for the door. "well enjoy, see you around boss." She said as she walked out the door. "oh please, call me...." I started, but the door had already closed behind her beautiful round butt.

I looked down at the chocolates and wondered where the nuts she mentioned were, they certainly didn't taste like peanuts or anything. Maybe it was something in the filling. I went back to work, picking at a chocolate from time to time, and before long the box was empty. I huffed. I was really enjoying them. I would have to ask Tara to make me some more at some point, but I didn't want to seem greedy, and for heaven's sake I didn't need to eat any more chocolate. I got my head down and got back to work. I had a busy day ahead of me and I needed to focus.

As lunchtime rolled around I felt my stomach start to rumble so I headed down to the office kitchen again and stared blankly at one of the vending machines. None of the food looked good today. There were little sandwiches in cardboard triangles, various chocolate bars, and multiple bags of crisps in various flavours.

I lent against the glass and sighed, wondering what to get. I put a couple of coins in the slot and started punching in the code for an orange juice and a bag of prawn cocktail crisps. The items clunked out with a loud thud and I stooped to retrieve them from the machine. At this point I heard the click clack of a pair of heels coming down the hall, and I turned to see Tara just opening the door to the kitchen.

She noticed me and did a little wave. I politely waved back. I still couldn't get over how beautiful she was so I looked down at my shoes. "How did you like the chocolates?" She asked as she approached the fridge and retrieved a tub with her name marked on the lid. "oh they were amazing. I'm sorry to say I ate them all already." I smiled and did an awkward little laugh.

Tara's eyes widened and a proud smile spread across her face. "oh that's excellent, I had a feeling you'd like my special filling. I can tell these things sometimes." she said cryptically. "I've got some more of the filling in a tub in this fridge if you want some." she said and smiled, motioning to the fridge. That struck me as odd, why would she bring extra filling for chocolates into work with her? Unfortunately, as much as it struck me as odd, I did feel terribly hungry, and I felt as if that filling would hit the spot.

"oh, yes please, only a spoonful though, trying to watch my weight." I said nervously. She beamed and opened the fridge, fetching a fairly large plastic tub filled with what looked like white chocolate mousse. I started salivating, and some drool fell from the corner of my mouth. Embarrassed and hoping Tara hadn't noticed I wiped my chin with my sleeve. She sat down at a small round table opposite the fridge and I followed suit, sitting opposite her. She brandished a teaspoon and offered it to me. I took it, excited to taste some of Tara's lovely cooking once again.

She opened the lid of the tub and immediately the smell of it hit my nostrils, I almost fainted, it was so heavenly. It was like a mixture of every smell you'd ever want to smell, like sweet vanilla and honey, like candy floss and flowers, like an expensive steak dinner, like freshly baked bread. It was such a strange but wonderful mix of sweet and savoury smells and I couldn't help but let out an audible "ahhh" in pleasure. "now, This batch is a little less diluted than the chocolate filling, I think I added more cream to that batch." Tara said with excitement in her eyes.