Opening has always been my favorite time at the restaurant. It is the quiet before the storm with only a few employees in the building. A time that I can get you mostly to myself. The flirtation started innocently enough, a few glances here and there, a slight hint of innuendo in passing. The past few months however the tension has been building between us. Several times a day I have to tear my eyes away from your 6'4" frame. My eyes drinking in your broad shoulders and arms.
The sound of another employee coming in disrupts the thoughts of having your arms wrapped around me. I sigh to myself and get back to making tea for the day. Opening has become something I can do practically in my sleep. We continue our well choreographed opening routines and I smile every time my eyes catch yours. Your eyes have gotten darker and more mischievous in the last few days and I can't help but feel a little warmer when you look at me. I'm starting to wonder if you have the same thoughts about me that I have about you. A scene of tangled limbs and naked flesh flashes through my mind and I can feel my cheeks getting pink. "Shit" I think to myself "you've got to get it together" I walk out of the kitchen and up to the break room to get ready for the shift.
As I'm in the office the general manager tells me he needs me to come in early to open for a private event. I happily agree- they are easy money and not difficult to work. The day continues with a flurry of activity- sold out theaters, running trays of drinks and food, the endless popping of popcorn. I love watching you move around the kitchen. You are so comfortable and confident. Your voice the one of authority. The voice I often hear in my dreams, commanding-firm-sexy.
Hours later and the restaurant has finally slowed down for us to start closing and cleaning. As I'm leaning over into the popcorn machine cleaning all the unpopped kernels I feel a presence behind me and my heart starts pounding. I turn around but I just see the black chef shirt on your wide chest. I lift my head up to meet your eyes and see laughter in your eyes. I playfully tap your chest "Jesus you scared me! " "Sorry," you say, your deep voice rumbling through me, "I just wanted to see if you could be here at 9 am for that private event. I'm going to need an extra set of hands to get set up by 12." "Oh sure," I responded, unable to take my eyes away from yours. "Great, I'm heading out for the night," you wrap your arms around me tightly, holding me a fraction of a second longer than what would be deemed professional. As your arms release me I tell you to have a good night and hope you weren't able to tell how hard my heart was thumping in my chest. I head home desperate for a nice hot shower and the time to be alone with my thoughts about you.
The morning of the private event I pull into the empty parking lot. My heart flutters at the thought of being alone with you for hours. "Breathe" I remind myself "this is where we both work" I push open the back door to the kitchen and walk in to find you working on portioning out ribeyes, your sleeves rolled up to your elbows showing off your toned forearms. "Morning Chef," I say to you as I force myself to walk past you to go get started setting up.
Twenty minutes later I walk into the cooler to grab some fruit to start cutting for the bar. Just as the door is about to close your long fingers wrap around it and pull it open. You duck through the heavy plastic and suddenly I feel like the walk in is so much smaller. As I turn around I'm blocked by your imposing frame. My breath catches in my throat as I look up to your face. Your eyes are dark and full of lust.
You step forward causing me to step back into the shelves of the cooler. You reach out and rest your hands on the wire shelves. Our bodies are almost touching and I feel myself getting warm despite the temperature in the cooler. "I can't keep you off my mind," you say your voice husky. In an instant I feel your hand on the back of my neck pulling me to your lips. My neck feels dainty and small compared to your large strong hands. Your lips crash into mine and I can't help the moan that escapes.