She playfully poked my side.“Excuse me, but how many times have we fucked in your office?Mr.‘you better be quiet, someone will hear you’.”I felt her body tremble with soft laughter.“Besides, haven’t you worked in Vegas?Surely, you’ve seen some strange shit.”
That was an understatement.I chuckled.“There might be a few stories.”
When I added nothing further, she rolled her eyes jovially.“Fine, don’t tell me.”The food was long gone, and we’d settled in beside each other, a small distance between us.I wondered if she might leave.I hoped she wouldn’t.
It was easier to forget like this, that we weren’t coworkers, that I didn’t have to separate the bar from us.Here, we were just two people sharing space.I could leave all that behind.
“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” she said, apropos of nothing.At first, I assumed it was a tease, but her tone was soft and tender.“No matter how it ended, you still did all that work, started those bars, and made a name for yourself.You might not have them now, but you’ll always know what you’re capable of.And you’ve been able to carve out a second chance for yourself.Not a lot of people get that.”Her body, so close to mine, and her words, so intimately whispered in the dark, hit me with unexpected force.
Suddenly, it was very important to keep my composure.
Even prior to the fiasco that led me here, I’d prided myself on not chasing other people’s approval.It mattered, of course, it did, but I wouldn’t chase it.I would earn it.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn this, but it meant more than I could say.More than I’d been expecting.
Tiffany placed a gentle kiss at the corner of my mouth.“You should be proud, Sam.I know I am.”
Long after her breathing evened out, I stared at the ceiling and wished that things were different.That there was a way to stave off the inevitable.
