She leaned forward toward the desk, lips pursed in mock seriousness as she scanned the pages that I had printed. The perfume that greeted me once she walked in now invaded me again. It was something light, powdery, and smelled very feminine. Her eyes skimmed each line with precision, reading everything that I had entered.
“You’re thorough, I like that,” She complimented before she flipped the paper to the next page.
“Thank you, I try.”
“Hmmm,” she said, nodding. “I think it’s your personality. Anyway, I’m glad I asked to see you. I feel like I’m in good hands.It makes the experience more personal.” Her eyes met mine. Something in her tone made me tense.
Now it was me who had to put on the smile that we practiced with the clients. So that’s what I did. I was the first to break eye contact as I looked down at the clipboard.
“Ms. Williams, the signatures,” I smiled.
“Right,” she laughed, signed, and initialed in the places that I needed her to.She slid the clipboard back in my direction.
“And your number?” I asked, prepared to just write it myself. She recited it to me slowly and deliberately. When I repeated it to her, she laughed softly.
“Yes. Commit it to your memory,” she said as I began writing it down. At that moment, I was unsure what was happening. Was she being overly friendly or flirting with me?
She sat back in the seat and gave me a little room as I scanned the documents one last time, making sure she had signed every space. Suddenly, the air felt a little thicker between us, and I didn’t know what to make of it. I stood, smoothed my blazer, and cleared my throat.
“Alright, Ms. Williams, I’ll personally oversee the process and keep you updated as I get them.” She nodded and stood as well.
“I’ll keep in touch,” I added. She started toward the door but stopped. “I was hoping you’d say that.” She smirked.
“Have a great day,” I said as I opened the door and waited for her to exit.
She stopped just shy of the threshold and looked at me. “And Breeze?” she stepped closer, making the interaction more personal by using my first name, which she hadn’t done since she knew me.
I raised my eyebrow and waited for her to finish. “Next time, maybe we can talk without the paperwork.” She suggested, then walked out the door without waiting for a response.I was taken aback because now I knew for sure that Shareese was definitelyflirting. I had never been hit on by a woman before. But over the last few months, I had been hit on more than I had in my entire life. It was like one encounter outside of my marriage, and now the stench of “whore” was oozing from my pores. I chuckled to myself as I walked back over to my desk.
I sat and thought about what just happened. With this weekend getaway coming up soon, I felt like this could be the perfect time to get everything out on the table. I was serious about ending whatever this was with Quentin. Whatever vice grip he had on my mind and my body was just supposed to be fun. A one-time thing that went away… but it never did. I craved it, I thought about it often, hell, I even dreamed about it occasionally. It was that intoxicating. I needed to let it go.
But I didn’t feel like I could let it go until I got everything out of my system. All my fantasies. It made me feel slightly ashamed to admit that I wanted to be watched, but it was the truth. Then I wondered if it would be awkward for Quentin if I asked Shareese to be the person to watch us. She was interested in me, but I hadn’t made it to that point of my curiosity just yet. If I ever arrived. I mean, if I did, she would be high on my list to explore that with. Number one, actually.
Shareese was “90s fine.” The thought of her and Quentin being together reminded me of that one fine ass couple that you could just look at and know the sex was beautiful. They were both so gorgeous that I felt like every time they had sex, a Jill Scott song played in the background.
I pulled out my phone to text him. We had been communicating a little more lately as it neared time to finalize plans and exchange new results.
Me: Hey, Q. I have a crazy question.
Quentin: What’s up?
Me: What do you think about me inviting someone on vacation for the last day?
Quentin: Nah. We have an entire NDA, B.
Me: I know, but I’m positive that it’s someone you can trust.
Quentin: That I could trust?
Me: Yeah, Shareese. If you’re okay with that, and she agrees.
Quentin: Man, good luck with that. Let me know how it goes.
I put the phone on my desk and thought about what he said. What did that mean? I second-guessed it, but considering we had a tight window to get everything set up, I couldn’t drag my feet on it. If she did agree, there were things she had to do that took time. The worst she could say was no. Well, that’s not exactly the worst she could say, or do, but I had to build the courage to ask anyway.
I went to the back page of the document and dialed Shareese’s number. She answered quickly.
“Hello?”
