Chapter 1: Her
I'm sure no one had told me a new assistant was starting today. I felt a prang of guilt that I had been too slow to mask my surprise at her being sat in my section. Worried that I'd made the poor girl feel unimportant or in some way out of place on her first day.
Worse than my less than warm greeting of "oh hi" was the fact that I knew I wouldn't redeem myself that morning. If she was seeking any immediate warmth from me as her superior she had sadly committed the biggest crime possible, being beautiful.
Working in a prominent position for a domestic violence charity sometimes requires an interesting thought process. The fact that we happen to employ a number of beautiful girls between 5 and 10 years my junior makes that even more of a minefield.
The thought that I would ever appear to be too flirtatious with a colleague or that I'd overstep any unspoken line has created a fear in me. My best solution down the years has been to act especially stoic and cold with any colleague who I considered beautiful. With that in mind I may as well have been an ice sculpture to Isobel.
Thin with pale almost porcelain skin, dark brown hair and delicate features. Small dainty hands and the most engaging brown eyes. Yes, I would have to fight extremely hard to not appear overly friendly, an internal battle to not dote on her.
Ah yes "dote" is a unique choice of words I suppose. To explain, when graced with the presence of a beautiful woman, some men may have the inclination to "have them" to control and dominate them for their own desires. Then you will find men like me. Men who see a women like Isobel and have to fight an internal battle to not place her on a pedestal, men who see such beauty through the eyes of worship and spend 8 hours fighting the urge to belay our respective job roles and beg to grab her coffee like some lovestruck lackey.
"Ice statue" was right. I barely engage with her at all. It is made harder as she is sat close to me. She is being trained by my assistant on various aspects of the computer system. I make an effort to appear more busy than I actually am so that she may assume that is the reason I am not engaging with her. Maybe she does, maybe she just thinks I'm an arsehole. Either one is safer than her knowing that I am worried that if I said her name I would struggle to not follow it with the offer of a foot rub in the middle of our busy office.
I'm afraid this isn't the type of erotica where I suddenly break and drop to my knees kissing her boots. The day passes without incident, I even make a couple of efforts to show some degree of warmth. Offering her platitudes about how she "shouldn't feel overwhelmed with all the information". She seems sweet but there is something a little different about her personality, a quiet confidence that you would not always associate with a 20 year old on their first day at a new company.
I've made it home and she has invaded my mind. All the thoughts of what I didn't do are now racing through my head.
"Isobel I'm so pleased you're here, I always take the view that it is my role to be of service to my team. Please do let me know if there is anything I can do to be of use to you!"
How quickly she saw right through my poor attempt at subtlety. No one else is within earshot, she holds curious eye contact with me, slightly tilting her head. She blatantly reaches out and pushes a pen from the side of the desk so that it lands just next to her boot.
"Pick that up." I know she's testing a boundary here and my heart is racing.
I am sat in a chair, the easiest motion would be for me to simply bend forward and collect the pen. The look in her eyes when she gave her instruction told me that "easy" was not what was expected. I stand up, then I kneel down.
I am kneeling before her, I can feel her eyes burning into me and I am extremely deliberate with every motion. I keep my eyes trained on the floor, in for a penny in for a pound I think as I attempt to appear as subservient as possible without lingering long enough for anyone to see me. I reach forward and grab the pen and then it happens.
I see a beautiful, black leather boot clamp my hand to the floor. I take a short but deep breath and quickly look up at her. God she is beautiful. No one can see me but I know that the longer I am here the more likely that is to change. I don't dare make an effort to pull my hand away, I offer a pleading look as she looks down at me. Her face is unchanged, I am panicking. I finally let out a gentle "please" it is almost silent yet speaks volumes, her face instantly breaks into a beautiful grin and my hand is freed.
I wake up, I am in my flat and I am so turned on yet so very grateful that this was just a dream. This poor beautiful girl would probably be shocked if she knew about my desperation to grovel at her feet, or so I thought.
Chapter 2: Weakness
I sigh with relief, not loud enough to be noticeable but enough that I feel it internally. I am sat in a meeting with our Operations Manager Fran and she has just informed me that they had actually planned for Isobel to be in another department. They had needed her to train with my assistant as she had done the job intended for Isobel before working with me.
The past 3 days since I met her have been torturous. Having this beauty so close to me as I tried to remain professional, even just staying upright rather than a more fitting kneeling position has been tricky enough.
Worst of all is what I began to learn yesterday. This Goddess' quiet confidence was not as quiet as I had thought. She has taken to teasing me, very subtlety establishing a pattern where her banter was just accepted rather than followed by a retort of my own which has emboldened her to act ever so slightly bossy. Always in a way that feels totally innocent. Me mentioning I was going to grab a tea to which she would respond "not much milk and 1 sugar" with a smile. I didn't know if she was joking but I think there was a small touch of surprise when I handed her the mug.
Feeling slightly emboldened myself to show a subtle sign of adoration, the next time I did not have my own cup when I returned from the kitchen with hers. A subtle contrast between making an extra as you're already there and a pure act of service. One she luckily didn't notice or at least didn't comment on.
I work with a number of beautiful girls yet I have always managed to show no sign of this side of myself. Something about Isobel though, not just her unquestionable beauty but her charisma and teasing nature was making me weak. I could feel myself slipping and as such was so relieved to hear that from Thursday there would be a little more distance to keep me safe from my own weakness.
Thus began what I will refer to as the "don't get caught staring" phase. Over the next few months we only interact occasionally. Due to the limited interactions I manage to calm my crush(worship) a little. Our office is open plan so I do still see her, I am sure she has caught me staring a few times but nothing that couldn't be explained away as daydreaming.
I learn a little more about her. She just finished college with an acting degree. I find her online profile used to advertise for potential opportunities in the acting world. I am sad that there is not a huge amount about her on there but I am awe struck by how beautiful she is in her pictures. She is popular with her colleagues, quickly fitting into a friendship group of girls around the same age. I notice how she quickly feels like something of a leader in that group, she feels more mature somehow.
She becomes close with my assistant Maya. I can tell she feels disappointed when she finds out that Maya is going to be leaving to travel. We all are but of course I notice Isobel's reaction the most. I am very attune to why I notice things like this and I manage to see it as amusing in context.
All in all I have managed to settle into the feeling that this is just a simple crush on a beautiful girl. My panic was for nothing.
Panic!
I am sat in a meeting with my boss and the subject of Maya's replacement has come up, Fran informed me that her plan is for Isobel to cover at least until Maya returns from her travels. I agree as firstly I could think of no reason not to (I don't believe that the old "might not be able to stop myself from dropping to my knees and adoringly showering her feet with kisses" would have flown). I also can't deny it is an exciting prospect to spend more time around Isobel.
Over the next couple of weeks I have a couple of brief interactions with Isobel were I say things like "hey future teammate! Looking forward to working with you!" Goodness I feel uncool next to her. Her poise is something to behold.
She is always in very early. As I walk through the door she is already sitting in the desk immediately next to mine that had been Maya's for the last 14 months. I made a special effort this morning, very light moose in my dark hair, fresh shave and even a small drop of my best aftershave. I made sure it would be subtle as we would be sitting in such close proximity.