We were finishing our third bottle of beer each when the fortune cookies arrived like telegrams we could choose for ourselves. Kate reached out as the plate was still being lowered. Pete followed her hand. I should have learned then that there was no such thing as an innocent smile on Pete. He slid into fever mode almost immediately. I could almost feel him tasting the auburn down on Kate's arm, like his eyes were little tongues.
As Kate cracked open the cookie her eyes shot like rockets aimed to destroy targets in central-Pete. I heard myself asking for another beer in lieu of a finalized tab. Can you bring it right away? There was this dry mouth and that quick-release lever sprung--the one that permits everything to continue.
That these two were connecting was obvious. It was exhilarating to watch. Pete had slid his way slowly to her around the curve of the U-shaped naugahyde. The two co-workers sat close together and across from me. Kate was recently hired and although we did office chatter together I didn't know anything about her, really. But at least the two of us interacted there and did talk. It looked to me even up until this morning that she didn't know who Pete was. By the arrival of my after-lunch beer Kate was squirming slightly next to him, here in the bowels of the Golden Dragon.
--You are eager to please. Make sure it brings benefit.
--A new friend has some interesting ideas.
--You will attend a party where strange customs prevail.
The last one was mine.
Kate was average to an extreme in her appearance, if that's possible. When she smiled it was pleasant, and I have not yet seen her get angry. I had not yet seen her exhibit much of any drive or emotion at the office. But I figured that was just the office. I was right. Here she was openly squirming about something--something Pete was doing to her under the table, across from me. Neither one of them was moving very much but it was obvious that something was happening.
The jokes about our fortunes dried up and Kate wondered aloud about another beer, then decided against it. She leaned toward the end of the booth, away from Pete, and excused herself. As she began her walk to the restroom Pete slid out and followed her, blurting out "Nature calls." I was sitting by myself.
I was sitting by myself for more than 10 minutes. It was Kate who returned, alone. She stopped a few feet from the table and turned away from me. She slowly bent over retrieving something from the floor, although there was nothing there. Her short loose skirt began to lift. There it was: even though the thigh highs she wore were a nude shade, the contrast of a pale milky skin crowning the sheer tops was still there, arousing, nearly blinding. As she continued bending, I saw this whiteness of flesh turn to a dark rosiness between her legs and her cheeks behind. No panties. She stood bent over before me like this for a slow thud of a heartbeat. Then she straightened up, smoothed down her skirt and sat next to me. I took a slug of beer like a gasp for air.
"Order me a beer." I called the old waiter over. He kept looking at Kate. Apparently I was not the only one who watched her searching the floor for something. After he left she turned to me and smiled. The pleasantness I was so fond of now had an edge to it. I remained silent, and in doing so I felt I was telling her what I had just seen. I didn't smile back either, and this I felt was my way of telling her that what I had just seen aroused me.
She looked around as the beer was placed before her. "Where's Pete?"
When I shrugged and said he hadn't returned yet she lifted the bottle and took a few good gulps from it before placing it back on the table. Again--a new edge. "Did you enjoy what you saw?"
I was taken back by what she said, but I was also taken in by it. I replied with a mumbled affirmation.
