As they stood there in the elevator, Eric's heart beat out of his chest. It had been years since any woman had touched him. Their hands brushing had him frozen. A tireless focus striving for the early retirement he had planned since childhood sidelined any romance in his life. He knew that she had seen his erection. The shame from it seethed from his body. And yet, for some reason, that only fueled his arousal.
He turned to her as the elevator doors opened onto the lobby floor, "After you."
"Thank you, Eric." The way she said his name, with a gentle staccato that prickled that last consonant: it sent his mind whirling, aching to hear her say it again. What was happening to him? He must collect himself! This is a subordinate employee. He was literally multiple tiers upon tiers above her. Stay on task: approvals. Yet as she strode past, a fleeting whiff of her perfume overtook him. He felt his right knee buckle beneath him, barely catching himself. He turned to head towards the lobby cafe, when he noticed she was instead walking towards the exit.
He called out, "Um Jennier, the cafe is just--"
Yet again, she stopped his sentence short with her own, "The cafe here is not nearly as good as this delicious espresso bar around the corner. Can't a bigwig like you walk two street lights for a better brew?"
He was helpless to agree with her, "I can do that. Let's make it quick." That second part seemed almost to annoy her. He noticed, and scolded himself at the pushback. They stepped out onto the street, and sure enough they were at their destination in just a few minutes.
Before Eric even had both feet in the shop, Jennifer's voice sung back to him, "Get me a small matcha latte with almond milk, Eric. Ceremonial grade, if they have it." His pants swelled again. What was this? Too long a pause had hung. Jennifer turned back to him, "Was I unclear, Eric?", taking the smallest step towards him. As she did, his gaze crossed her chest. He hadn't yet expressly taken notice of her breasts. They were smaller, but plump and plentiful and sitting just so, and like her face dusted with chocolate beauty marks that were simply... perfect.
His mind was lost in worship, but his mouth managed out, "Sorry, yes. I was thinking about work and got distracted, please forgive me. You want a small matcha latte with almond milk, with ceremonial grade matcha if possible. Anything else?"
"Attention to detail. I love that. No, that will be all. Thank you." she purred.
"No, thank you." He sputtered. Why not, "you're welcome?" He chided himself.
She chose a table nearest the back of the cafe. As he ordered and waited, he looked over at her. She wasn't on her phone, or fidgeting with some table trinket. She sat there, regal and refined. He had never felt this before. Nothing even remotely close. And the more he felt it, the more... he craved it. Always acutely self-aware, Eric told himself to get through this, and he could re-assess once he was alone to soberly make sense of it all.
"Here you go" he said, almost with a pride in his voice.
"Mm, thank you very much." she said, amused at his enthusiasm. Her amusement only doubled his pride. "So, I know my paperwork was short on a few details. Here's my thinking: what likely makes the most sense is for you to simply fill in those blanks. That would be such a help for me, it would please me so much Eric. This is outside my wheelhouse. It is second nature to you. I know that this is out of the ordinary, but I would appreciate it so much. And well, know that I would appreciate you if you did this for me. Would you, Eric?"
