I'm not often bold, even though I'd like to be. I was never one of those girls. You know, the type that you could swear mastered the art of flirting before she left the womb. I've tried giving that come hither look, and I always end up feeling ridiculous. I'm more of the plain Jane kind. I don't wear lipstick to the grocery store, never had a one night stand. If I were a color, I'd be beige- maybe off white, and I cannot stand that about myself. I've read Cosmo, I know that this is the enlightened age- that powerful women are sexy, I just never knew how to be a corporate ladder climbing, dance floor dominating, red shoe wearing super diva. So I decided to put a little effort into it.
I went out and bought sexy underwear, I put on a little makeup before I went to the store, I even bought a pair of red shoes (Well, okay they were more dark maroon than red, but it was a step in the right direction.) None of it helped- I was still Plain Jane. Beige Betty. Off white... well you get the idea. That's when I got the inspiration for "the challenge."
The challenge is a simple idea really. Once a month I challenge myself to do something new, something I've never tried before. It started with something small and insignificant- I'd never eaten Thai food, so I had it for dinner one night. The next month I decided it was time to strike up a conversation with a man I'd never met (okay so he was old enough to be my grandfather. I wasn't looking for a relationship, just a conversation!) As time went on the challenges got a little tougher, but I could feel myself changing. I felt more confident, more in charge of myself, sure it sounds kind of lame but it was working for me. Then one day a new face showed up at the office and undid all that lovely progress I had made.
Richard started on a Tuesday. He had the kind of good looks that made women go weak in the knees, soft in the thighs and hot all over. His hair was just long enough that he didn't look stuffy in his suit, and his eyes were that soul-piercing blue that makes you wonder if he can see what you're thinking when he looks at you. Every time I saw him my tongue tied itself in a knot and hid in my stomach, and with his office being right next door to mine, it did so quite often. So you can imagine my surprise when one day Richard winked at me during a meeting. He winked at plain, boring, fastidious, frugal me. My heart started racing, my mouth went a little dry, and then I realized he must've winked at someone behind me, so of course I turned around to see who. And of course it was... err... there was no one there. I looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and blatant disbelief before I realized he obviously had something in his eye, and then I spent the rest of the meeting not listening to a single word anyone said.
After the meeting let out I headed back to my office where, a few moments later, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!"
The door opens and Richard is standing there. Great, now what do I do!?!?
"Oh, hello, Richard. What can I do for you?
"Well, Sarah I thought we should probably get brainstorming. The quicker we come up with the idea for the new Bainbridge account, the faster we can get to the proposal... I'd really like to have it done by next Friday."
"The... uh..." Holy hell, I really should've listened in that meeting. "Yes, of course. So do you have any initial ideas, any suggestions for what we might do?"
His eyes took on a devilish glint, and he grinned mischievously. "Oh, yes I have some ideas for what you and I might do."
Thunk. (That was my jaw hitting the desk, by the way.) "I, ah, ahem."
"So I thought if Bainbridge wanted this suave, sophisticated image what we could do is..."
So as we worked on the project and it got down to the wire, we started staying at work later and later. One evening after everyone else had left, we were in my office putting the final touches on our presentation.
