I.
Gabriel stared at the screen of his laptop, his eyes unfocused and weary after another eleven hour day in the office. The few lamps around his office provided the only other illumination, pooling warm light over the plush carpets and rich leather chairs. Beyond his partially closed door, the rest of his floor was dark. Except for one office in the next pod over. He could barely see the glow of that office's light on the wood planks down the hall, but he didn't need to see it to know she was still there.
She was always there. Visible, but just out of reach.
The new VP who had taken over their division had completely upended everyone's assignments. Worse, he had no concept of how the large department functioned, with clear demarcations of authority. Every junior VP had their own projects to work on, and those lines were never crossed. Until five weeks ago. He and Ava had been assigned to manage a new major project. Together. The problem was, they clearly couldn't work together.
More precisely, he couldn't work with her.
Five weeks on this assignment, and every week bringing him closer to the end of his restraint. Five weeks with her in every meeting. On every call. Five weeks with her smiling at him, laughing at his jokes. Of her sliding perfectly into position alongside him on this project as if she hadn't just joined the team. Five weeks of unrelenting frustration. Five weeks of trying to not notice her, and five weeks of total failure.
She checked all his boxes: intelligent, competent, effortlessly sensual while always remaining completely professional. He knew it was only a matter of time before he gave into his temptation and let his friendly banter with her stray into a probing flirtation, trying to feel out the limits of her interest. He hoped his temptation wasn't so obvious to his employees and other colleagues. The last time he had gotten involved with a colleague, several careers almost ended, and his was only saved because a recruiter contacted him about joining this firm right before details were going to be made public. A major crisis barely averted, and he had no desire to find himself blindly embroiled with an untrustworthy woman again. Ava didn't seem the sort to try to sleep her way to the top, though. And they were on the same level in the organization.... He felt a pleasurable stirring in his trousers at the thought.
Enough!
He shook his head to clear it. Sitting here in the near dark, staring blankly at a spreadsheet while thinking about her alone in her office just down the deserted hall and how she maybe wouldn't turn out to be a career-ending mistake was doing nothing to bolster his resolve. He had to get out of here.
He checked the time and cursed under his breath. It was late. She would likely be leaving soon, too. He shut down his laptop and peered out to see if her light was still on. It was. Another couple of minutes to throw the machine in his messenger bag and pull his wallet and phone out of his desk drawer. The elevator bay was on his side of the building, so as long as he could get out of his office before she did, he was home free. He was almost through his doorway when he realized he left his keys on his desk. By the time he retrieved them and made it out of his office again, he noticed the entire floor really was dark, except for the dim lighting by the elevator bay.
And there she was, waiting for an elevator. Today she wore a wrap dress, made of that magic material that somehow clings perfectly to every curve and still manages to swirl and sway around her legs when she walked. The lean muscles in her legs were highlighted by the heels she wore. His cock, barely awakened by his earlier musings, sprung to life at the sight of her. All he could think about was having those strong legs wrapped around his hips while he plunged himself into her over and over and over, her head tipped back in ecstasy, displaying her slender throat and plump, perfect, heaving and bouncing breasts. He groaned as his cock throbbed and swelled down his pants leg.
I can't be alone with her in an elevator in this state.
She hadn't seen him yet, and if he was careful maybe he could slink back into his office...but at that instant her head snapped around, as if she could hear him thinking about her. Oh, and if she could hear the things he was thinking about her, she'd slam her hand into that little call button frantically or fly down the stairs to get away from him. Not smile brightly and wave him over as if they were best of friends.