The Office After Hours

The Friday before a long weekend was a hell of a time for Brad's boss to drop a last-minute deadline in his lap. As he rubbed his hand through his hair in exasperation, he looked to see if any hairs fell on his desk. Stress in his job was a daily reality and it was taking its toll on his body.

He had once been a regular at the gym. Working hard he had managed maintain a level of tone that had escaped him in his college years. Now, he was working so many hours, he was starting to backslide.

"Hey Brad, you wouldn't happen to have a copy of the Phillips presentation?"

He was surprised to see Amanda standing at his cubicle doorway.

"How come you're still here? I thought I was the only one left."

She was a grad student working on a special project for Brad's boss as part of a program that the company had with the local university.

"I said goodnight to the cleaning folks half an hour ago." she said.

To say Amanda was not wearing office appropriate attire would be accurate.

Brad tried not to avert his eyes from hers. The tight black miniskirt she was wearing was making that a difficult proposition, however. Amanda normally dressed very conservatively so her current appearance was a big surprise. In addition to the skirt, she wore bright red pumps and a white blouse that he could see her black lace bra through.

"I know Friday is casual day but do those pumps meet the dress code?" he said with a slight grin.

Amanda laughed s little.

"I don't think so but aren't they cute?". She stretched her foot out so he could see.

He took the opportunity to check out her legs once again. She had once mentioned that she was an avid runner and she had athletic toned legs. His mind flashed a fantastical image of lightly running his fingers up her calf as he moved his hands up her leg.

She was looking at him expectantly.

"Oh yeah, they're great. I should get myself a pair." He blushed slightly as he knew that he had been caught.

She giggled: "I really don't think they make them in your size and I'm not giving up my pair."

"Far be for me to separate a woman from her shoes. I'd probably break an ankle anyway."

"Now that would be a sight!"

"Now what were you looking for?" He decided to change the subject. The sight of her legs was causing things to stir. He didn't want to further embarrass himself by putting a strain on his khakis.

"The Phillips account presentation. I'm doing a piece of the presentation and Mr. Roberson wanted me to make a few changes to the Power Point deck. He emailed me the slides, but I can't open them up."

"Ohhh, let's take a look at your laptop. I think I know what the problem is." He had gone down this road with his boss before. More than likely, her version of PowerPoint was a different version of what Mr. Roberson was using. The company often was a few versions behind what was commercially available though his boss insisted on using the latest and greatest. He wondered how many people had been traumatized by this incompatibility in the past.

Following behind her to her office cubicle he admired her toned legs some more. He tried not to notice the short skirt that strained to cover her butt. Once he looked, he found he couldn't look away. All the running she had done to this point had sculpted a beautiful heart shaped ass. He held his notebook in front of his crotch as he walked. An old schoolboy trick for sure, but he needed to do something to cover the tent pole straining against the fly of his pants.

"Welcome to my little slice of heaven." She said as she entered her cubicle.

Brad couldn't help but notice that she was sharing her cubicle.

"Two of you work in here?"

"Yeah it's pretty cramped. At least Corrine is pretty cool. Good thing since we pretty much sit shoulder to shoulder."

"I don't think I've met Corrine yet. "

"she just started 2 weeks ago. She's blonde, short hair, not very tall."

"Oh yeah, I've seen her around." He had seen her in the cafeteria. She was very a very pretty and had a pretty smile. Brad had been looking for an excuse to talk to her.

"Let's take a look at your computer." She gestured towards her seat indicating he should sit down.

He took her seat taking notice of the PC on the desk.

"They don't exactly give you interns the best of equipment. I think this PC has been hear longer than the company CEO."

"I know right? I think they cobbled it together with spare parts. I do a lot of stuff at home on my laptop. Some of the stuff is too sensitive to bring home though."

"Can you put in your password?" he asked.

"Oh yeah sure."

The confines of the cube caused her to reach across him. He tried to give her space but there was just no room. Her breasts rested lightly on his forearm. She was close enough that he could feel the warmth of her skin and smell the shampoo she used on her shoulder length dark hair.

"All set" she said as she finished typing in her credentials. She turned to face him, realizing suddenly how close they were to each other. To his surprise, instead of pulling away, she paused and smiled impishly.

"I hope we can figure this out."

"Don't worry," he said, "I won't leave you hanging."

Much to his chagrin, she took up a position behind him to allow him to work. Brad began to investigate the problem, unfortunately, it seemed his original assertion was proving to be correct: the PC was not up to task.

"Did you get invited to Mr. Roberson's party this weekend?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, he throws these parties once and a while to 'build morale'. These things are essentially mandatory. They're really a pain in the ass."

"I didn't know what the deal was. I was kind of afraid I'd get there, and he's be the only one there."

"HA! That would be creepy." Brad continued to tap at the keyboard.

"Well, he did ask me out."

Brad turned to face her. "Really??? He's a married man too."

"He explained to me that he and his wife had an 'arrangement'. Essentially, their marriage was open."

"Hmm, interesting. Are you going to go to HR about it?"

"I wasn't planning to. He was actually kind of a gentleman about it. I do think he is kind of a creep though. That slicked back hair and self-important attitude aren't things that I consider endearing in a man."

"Really? I was thinking of slicking my hair back too." He gave her a smile an d a quick wink.

Amanda giggled. "That's not a look I can see you having. Besides, I like your hair." She reached forward and gently messed his hair up.

He laughed, inwardly thinking 'she likes my hair!'. "Alright, maybe I'll skip that look. I wouldn't know wear to get that hair slick stuff anyway."

Amanda giggled again. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle a little when she laughed. He liked that.

"This PC doesn't have the right version of MS Office. You're not going to be able to open this presentation here."

"Oh no! I couldn't open it on my laptop either. What am I going to do?"

Brad thought for a minute. " We could try the PC in the conference room. They have sales people come in and do their pitch. I think they have to have the latest and greatest version of the software. We could save it as an earlier version, so you can work on it using your laptop."

Her face brightened. "Do you think that will work?"

"Let's go check."

They got up and walked across the dimly lit office. Vacant cubicles stood in quiet testament of the weekend exodus. They were the last people left on this floor of the building.

Reaching the conference room, he opened the door for her. She brushed close by him as she entered the room allowing him to catch the scent of her hair causing him to momentarily forget that he was at work much later than he needed to be.

The conference room was a large rectangle room. Windows lined the far wall giving a beautiful view of the city skyline. A large oval table, constructed of warm dark wood, took up the bulk of the space. A smaller utility table held a PC. The utility table was partially obscured by a lectern with a small microphone. The far end of the table, at its head, sat a large chair, professional yet more opulent than the other "business" chairs that line the edges of the table.

Brad looked around momentarily as Amanda moved towards the PC. He remembered being in here for his job interview. His time sitting uncomfortably in one of those chairs, as Mr. Roberson, occupying the head seat, grilled him mercilessly, seemed both like yesterday and long ago. Brad had been in here a few times since, mostly for departmental meetings, but the grilling was still fresh in his mind. Mr. Roberson had sat at the head of the table presiding over the events like the king he aspired to be. There were a few occasions where presentations had involved the higher ups. Brad had been forced to stand along with all the other worker bees. On these occasions, Mr. Roberson sat at the table but not at its head. Brad's boss, much to his satisfaction, had behaved more like a whipped dog than the despotic ruler in those meetings. The culled look in his boss's eye made standing for an hour or so worth it.

Amanda walked to the PC on the utility table and started to enter her credentials. He blinked several times as he flipped on the lights in the room. He found the overhead lighting to be overly harsh.

"Do you mind if I just keep the lights dimmed?"

"You read my mind."

Fumbling with the light controls a little while figuring out what the switches and knobs did. After a few different permutations, including lowering the presentation screen he settled on a dim setting of the track lights.

"How's that?".

She paused for a second and looked at him.

"Ohh, mood lighting. I like it."

Her grin gave him that butterfly feeling in his stomach. His insides felt like an iced cream cone on a hot day. His friends had tried to set him up a couple of times since his break-up with his former girlfriend, Becky. There had been little in the way of mutual chemistry in any of those set-ups. This was attraction on a scale he had not experienced in some time.

The rational part of his brain screamed at him to 'slow his roll'. Not only was she a younger woman but she was a co-worker. The adage: "Don't shit where you eat" came to mind. The age difference wasn't insurmountable. He had just turned 32, hardly an old man especially when compared to a 24 yr old woman.

Amanda turned to him again.

"Can you come here and help me? My credentials won't allow me access." She was slightly biting her bottom lip. The gesture had the effect of making her appear both uncertain and innocent. There was no way he could resist.

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. The table was small enough that their shoulders were touching. Once again Brad found her smell intoxicating; warm skin, and the clean aroma of Pantene from her hair.

"I'm getting an error message when I try and get to my file." She pouted. Frustration was palpable."I'm never going to get this done! Mr. Roberson is going to give me a bad review for my internship>"

"Let me see." Looking at the error he could surmise why. The drive mappings were different on this PC from the one on her desk.

"Amanda. Just click on the K drive. I know you're used to clicking on H but the drives are mapped differently on this workstation.."

"What? where am I clicking?"

"Right here." He said as he reached across and put his hand on hers. Her body stiffened a little as his hand made contact with hers. Gently, he guided the cursor to the correct drive on the screen.

"Right... here..." he said as he clicked, all the time admiring the smoothness and warmth of her hand. He had to admit, he felt the tangible twinge of electricity that comes only from personal connection as he touched her. He also realized he had elected to cross a line from co-worker to something else. What "that" is, he wasn't sure yet, but he realized he'd hate himself if he didn't make some kind of overture, company policy be damned.

The application opened up and displayed the presentation.

"Oh! Yes!" she cried. She put both hands on the computer monitor and kissed the top of the screen.

Although he had helped Amanda with her problem, he felt the sharp tinge of disappointment as she pulled her hand away to grab the monitor.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You saved my life!"

Brad couldn't help but smile. "I'm glad I could help you out."

She turned back to face him, surprising him with an embrace. He reveled in the feel of her body next to his. Her embrace was strong, yet she still seemed delicate. He felt a little sigh escape his lips as he returned her hug. They held this position for a long moment before pulling away. He felt his cheek brush against hers as they pulled away; so smooth and welcoming.

Amanda paused a moment after breaking away. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something in his expression. Her hand slid slowly over his. He noticed her palm was sweaty. The smile on her face was both nervous and hopeful. Brad imagined his expression was one of surprise. He didn't know as he couldn't see his face.

Amanda pulled her hand away suddenly. "I'm sorry..." she stammered, "I really shouldn't have..." She started to pull away. "I just thought that you, well..."

He tried to reassure her, but he found he couldn't get a word in. She was talking too fast. He knew he had to act, to re-assure her, before she fled the room and the moment passed. He reached forward, gently sliding his hand under her hair on the back of her neck. A gasp escaped her lips. He was sure if it was because of the suddenness of the movement or her reaction to his touch.

"Amanda." He looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "It's okay. I'm glad you took my hand." A big smile spread across her lips. If the light wasn't so dim, he would have seen her blush.

"I really hope you don't mind this either." He moved in close, pausing a breath away from her lips. His eyes scanning her face for any sign that she wanted him to stop. Looking at him, she again appeared innocent and perhaps a little vulnerable. Brad didn't want to take advantage of her or the situation. He started to think of an exit strategy for his strong move when she alleviated his inner conflict. Amanda moved forward. Her lips joining his,

Her lips felt warm and welcoming as the last vestiges of inner conflict evacuated post haste. He felt his face flush as his pulse quickened. His khakis were straining to contain the rush of excitement. This feeling was akin to the first time he had kissed a woman. This was no stiff and awkward first date goodnight kiss where both parties just want to get it over with. This was soft, passionate, a real connection born of mutual attraction. He wondered if she felt it too. Her body felt a little stiff initially before feeling her body relax and give in to the moment.

Abruptly, they separated. "I've wanted to do that for a while." She whispered.

He took in the features of her face in the dim light. He was stunned at her apparent crush.

"I'm glad we did. We should keep this quiet, well, as long as we work in the same department."

They both leaned in and shared another kiss. More relaxed this time, he let his hand slide down her back to her waist. She put her hand on his shoulder running her fingertips down his chest. Their excitement level building. Their lips joined, a flutter of tongue gave way to a deep passionate kiss. They pulled each other as close as their chairs would allow. Their breathe grew heavy as their hands started to explore each other. Everything remained PG but things were escalating.

Abruptly, Amanda pulled away. A gentle hand on Brad's chest. He didn't press thought the desire was nearly overwhelming. Panting slightly, they both grinned at each other.

"I don't want to stop but, I do need to make sure this presentation is complete."

Brad's hatred of Mr. Roberson was never more tangible. "I understand. Your internship is in doubt without it."

"Exactly." She sighed. "Would you do me a favor? I should say another favor?"

"Sure, what can I do?

"After I make the adjustments I need to make, can I show you my part of the presentation? I'd love to get some feedback."

"I'd be happy to." His brain was telling his body to "stand down" and to get back to work.

"Give me about 20 minutes. Is that enough time to finish what you were working on?"

Work was the last thing on his mind at that moment. There was a slight pause before he answered.

"Ah... yeah. I should be able to finish up."

"Good. I don't want to be the reason why you're here all night." She had a mischievous grin on her lips. He wasn't sure how to read her at this point but he was going to learn that her grin meant she had something interesting on her mind.

He rose to leave. She leaned in and surprised him with a lingering kiss. The experience hadn't been a dream.

"I've wanted to do that since I met you "she said.

He was sporting a huge grin on his face as he walked back across the vacant office space. Even the dim depressing nature of his cubicle did little to dissuade his mood. Getting back into his work was daunting. The urge to march back into the conference room nagged at him. On two occasions, he actually stood up, before forcing himself to sit back down. He didn't want his new-found excitement to overwhelm her.

Somehow, he managed to finish what he was working on. He had a moment after pressing the send button to exhale. Mr. Roberson may very well stay off his back, once he got the latest forecast numbers. His desk phone lit up startling him. The number on the display indicated that the call was coming from the conference room.

He answered in his best professional voice: "Hello, this is Brad Ambrose."

Giggling.

"Mr. Ambrose there is a meeting in the conference room that requires your immediate attendance."

"I don't see this meeting on my calendar. Are you sure I'm a required attendee?"

More giggling.

"Certain Mr. Ambrose. Let's not make this an issue. I'd hate to see your absence become an issue on your annual review."

"I'd best get my hiney to the conference room."

"Oh yeah, bring that hiney."

With that, she hung up the phone.

Brad was flush with excitement. Reminding himself that this was all very new and that he should proceed cautiously, he took a moment to try and regain his composure. He took a few deep breathes, letting them out slowly. His heart was no longer racing but his palms still had a light sheen of perspiration. His manhood, however, listened only to its own brain. As he stood, he had to adjust himself to relieve the strain of his fully erect member.

Resisting the urge to run to the conference room, he went instead to the men's room. At the sink he splashed a little water on his face. Looking at his reflection he decided he appeared "office shabby". His dark brown hair looked as though he had been raking his fingers through it all day, which was at least partially true. The dark blue shirt that he wore was barely tucked it, giving him a ballooned appearance around his waist. Pale blue eyes bore the bloodshot look of someone who had spent the day staring intently at a computer screen; also, true.

He tucked his shirt in to khakis. His time at the company hadn't totally ruined the v-shape of his body, at least not yet. Using water from the sink he made some adjustments to his hair so wasn't quite so wild. Looking at himself in the mirror he let out a deep breath.

The walk to the conference room was a short one, made shorter by the pace he took getting there. This was probably the first time he had looked forward to a meeting. Pausing at the door he felt he should knock for some reason. As he raised his hand, he realized this woman really had him out of sorts. He shook off the uncertainty, entering the room. Amanda was standing near the screen hanging on the wall. A PowerPoint presentation illuminated the space behind her. Amanda stood with her hands clasped at her waist in front of her. Brad hesitated a second, taking in the visage before him. She reminded him of a poor man's Megan Fox. As he again took in her tan legs and short skirt. He couldn't help but think he was a lucky man.