"Hi, Mark!" you exclaim as you slip through the crowd of coworkers to greet me with a warm hug. You stand high on your tip toes and throw your arms over my shoulders while I bend over slightly to meet you half way. You're much shorter than I am but for some reason you always choose to hug in this manner, with your arms on top. But I don't complain. Honestly, if I had to classify it, I would call it cute. I enjoy the feeling of being the big, powerful man and you the little, sexy woman. Wrapping your arms around my neck and pulling me into you like we're old family, you ask into my ear, "How are you?!"
"I'm good, Steph. Good to see you! How are things?" I ask as we pull apart with our hands lingering on each other's arms. You give the obligatory "fine" response as I let you go and take my arms out of my jacket sleeves.
"Oh, here, I can take that," you offer after interpreting the movement of my eyes searching the room for a hanger. "I think they're keeping the coats upstairs on the bed."
I call out a "thank you" as you disappear upstairs. Turning to the mirror beside the entry way, I take a quick moment to make sure my oxford and slacks are still in order. If I'm being honest, I chose this look specifically because of you. You complimented me once before on the combination of my Express blue slacks and brown accents in the belt and Aldo shoes. It has always stuck with me so I figured I'd try it again.
A quick adjustment of my belt buckle and then I continue greeting other coworkers, meandering through our boss, Jenny's, house to make sure I hit everyone at least once. By the time I have made my first round of the living room, 20 minutes have passed and I see you now back downstairs, chatting across the room. The polite conversation buzzes around me but slowly fades into the background as my eyes focus in on you. Like a scene from some romantic film, I watch as you smile and laugh in apparent slow motion and silence. Suffice it to say, you are a beautiful woman. Absolutely gorgeous, really. I've been attracted to you since the first day we met, but have never said anything about it for fear of making things awkward in the office. So instead I resolve myself to admiring you from a distance when the opportunity presents itself.
My eyes run down your body trying to take note of as much detail as possible. The way your bold, red lips glisten slightly and your hair bounces with each turn of your head. The way your off-white sweater hugs the contours of your slim body. The way it drapes comparatively loosely just over the tops of your hips which are displayed magnificently in those tight black yoga pants. Your socks are an off-white knit material to match your sweater and are bunched up about mid-calf. It's obvious to me that you aren't really going for 'sexy' with this look, more comfortable and cute, but for me it doesn't matter. For me you're always sexy. And besides, I like the way you show off your body without being blatant. Your clothes are never trashy, but never quite loose either. I'm almost certain you know you have a great ass as that is the closest thing you ever come to really showing off. Always in tight pants whether they're yoga or jeans or dress slacks, you're not shy about that aspect at all. And the days that you wear high heels to accentuate your legs...well, that is just a rare treat. Today it appears I am not so lucky, but I still can't complain.
"...Mark....Mark!"
I suddenly snap back to my surroundings and realize that Josh has come over and is trying to talk to me. "You ok there guy?"
"Oh, I, uh....yeah..." I fake a quick smile, and turn toward him, but can't help allowing my eyes to dart toward you one last time. And in this brief moment I realize that you are staring directly back at me. It's only a split second of eye contact but it shakes me. How long have you been watching me? Did you know I was staring at you? Is that smirk on your face because of something funny someone said or are you laughing at me?
I quickly turn away and force a work related conversation with in order to pretend like everything is ok. Words come out of my mouth and I somehow coherently respond to Josh's questions, but I have almost no idea what is being said. The only thing on my mind is that look you gave me and praying that my face isn't a flushed as it feels.
After a suitable amount of time passes without any embarrassing incidents, I am beginning to calm down again. I'm sure it was just a fluke eye contact. I'm getting too much into my own head and worrying about things that aren't real. Nevertheless, that moment of panic has made me thirsty, so I excuse myself from the current boring conversation I'm having and head toward the kitchen to find a drink.
As I turn the corner, I see you again, bent over at the waist, looking for something in the refrigerator.
I freeze dead in my tracks as my mind starts racing again.
"Good lord, why does she have to stand like that?" I think to myself. "Can't she bend her knees or something?!" My eyes trace the slight swaying of your hips, back and forth, back and forth, as you rifle around the fridge. I can immediately feel the blood coursing through my veins and the beating of my heart increasing in intensity to the point I think it's going burst from my chest. I can hear it in my ears, and almost as if you could hear it too, you turn around and smile without standing up.
"Oh, hey, Mark. Enjoying the party so far?"
But the way you say it and that same look on your face almost makes it sound accusatory. More like what you wanted to say was, "Oh, hey, Mark. Enjoying the view?" But I quickly convince myself that this is again all in my head. At least it is for now unless I fuck it up by not responding like a normal human being!
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's alright. You know, it's a work party," I say trying to act casual. "You need help finding something?"
"Well, Jenny just said there was an extra bottle of wine in here." You stand up and close the fridge, grabbing an empty bottle from the counter next to you. "But we're fresh out I guess."
"No, what?! We can't be out already! The party's barely an hour old!" I run my eyes over the room. "Here, look!" I step over to the counter and grab two bottles of wine from behind a catering box, holding them up for you to see. "Jenny just probably forgot to put them in the fridge. Red or white?"
I know it's dumb, but seeing the smile spread across your face as you excitedly say, "Red!" kind of makes me feel like a small hero. Like maybe I impressed you in some way. At the very least I made you happy, and I never wanted that feeling to end. But even that feeling paled in comparison to the feeling that rushed over me as you bounced toward me and wrapped your arms around my neck again, squeezing me tightly. Once again you lifted onto your tip toes and this time rose one foot into the air behind you. I just stood there like an idiot in shock with these two bottles of wine in my hands, unsure of what to do. When you pulled back and looked up at me, I could feel my face going flush again.