For Samantha, her work was everything. Over the past several years she had poured herself into her career. Certainly part of it was ambition, but she began to wonder if her success was coming at the cost of other relationships in her life.
She had been with her boyfriend for a couple of years but things between them had grown stagnant. She wasn't sure why she kept him around, nor why she didn't end it before she moved for her latest promotion and let him tag along. It was even more strange to her that In so many ways with this new job she had parted ways with things that bored her, yet her boyfriend was something she kept around.
Her new job was basically the same as the last except fewer hours, less stress and more money. She had landed a new general manager's position for a small chain of highly successful local restaurants. She was a bit of a wunderkind in her professional world, demonstrating time and again that every business she takes on became considerably more profitable than it was previously.
She always attributed it to her highly disciplined work ethic that went strictly by the book and always put the customer first. Her entire career, her entire life, she had always been in total control. She always enjoyed that feeling and the freedom that comes with being so independent.
However, deep down inside a part of her yearned for the opposite. A life where someone else could take charge, sweep her off her feet and be the one always in control, always taking the responsibility of handling whatever is next. Perhaps that was what had her feeling so stale in her current relationship. He was a pushover, a freeloader, and neither cute enough nor good enough in bed to justify his laziness. She wanted more, needed more but, and very much unlike so many changes she's made in her life, she continued on with a relationship that didn't seem to benefit her at all.
In some ways she joked with herself that perhaps her boyfriend was some kind of nostalgic keepsake from a time she left behind. A reminder of how far she had come. But more than ever the signs of her love lost we're mounting. There smiles were few, the laughs even more so and the sex life had become nonexistent. Even at his best it never did anything for her. She knew he was just a softer type, it's laughable to ever think of him having the dominant trait. Yet that's what she wanted so badly.
Working in a restaurant means you get to see dozens of faces every day. Some old, some new. She always had fun, entertaining day dreams of fantasies and desires ignited by some of the sexier and more rugged men that came in. She also had the same welcome distractions with some on her staff but never crossed the line. Her professionalism was her discipline.
However, one had been catching her eye more and more. Troy was new to the staff having only just finished his first two weeks of training and Samantha had the opportunity to work with him only a couple of times. She wasn't much impressed with his work and became noticeably frustrated during some of his mistakes made during the busier hours of their shift. He was quiet and never said much but showed his own subtle yet noticeable signs of frustration when she provided her pointed criticisms. Samantha just assumed he didn't like being told what to do by a woman, just like so many of the others.
She thought for a moment perhaps she was too hard on him, maybe she was directing some of her frustrations from her personal life toward an easy target. Maybe she was upset that she actually knew how attracted to him she was. He was tall, a couple inches over six feet and a little chubby from the habitual post-shift beers with the other kitchen guys. While his midsection was round his shoulders were broad and muscular leading to long, powerful arms. He had short brown hair but most of it remained constantly hidden by a dirty baseball cap with short strands poking out from around the rim of the hat leading to a thick beard that was a week or two past needing a good trim.
She did her best to keep her distance, to remain professional, but her eyes seemed to always wander back. She became slightly worried that he had caught her on a couple occasions looking more than what would seem appropriate but dismissed the concerns just as quick.
Tonight they found themselves on a particularly hot evening having come off a nearly overwhelming dinner hour followed by an unusually dead time leading up to closing. The dinner rush was intense and certain mistakes were made that set the entire kitchen back multiple times. And like the few times before, Troy was the target of her frustration in those tense moments. He worked through his backlogs in orders and found his pace to get things moving but she still had derided him during the rush.
As things later calmed to the point of a totally dead restaurant, she cut most of the staff from the front and back of house, leaving just her, two kitchen guys, Troy being one, and a bartender to shut down. She gave them their lists and told them they could clock out whenever they had finished.
While the others began tending to their short lists Samantha sat at the bar and enjoyed a shot and a new beer they had began offering that same night. The shot was top shelf tequila followed by a refreshing but hoppy IPA. It was worth a drink but she preferred the more basic, cheap American lager to many of the craft brews available.
She downed the shot immediately and followed with three gulps of the beer that took down half the pint. She was feeling good, honestly, a little too good before she noticed the beer she was drinking was 9.4% alcohol content. She laughed to herself in the moment but then felt a little challenged when she noticed the bartender was only waiting on her to finish before closing himself out.
Before she could down the last of the beer the kitchen manager came out to tell her they were all wrapped up and leaving and she said good night before turning back to the bar. She quickly took down the remaining pint in just a couple quick drinks and walked the glass and napkin back to the bar sink and trash. She dismissed the bartender, telling her she would handle her own mess and to enjoy her evening.
Samantha followed the bartender to the front and locked the door after she left before turning out all the lights on her way back to the kitchen exit. As she walked into the kitchen she noticed a large burlap package of potatoes sitting in Troy's area, something he was told specifically to put away before he left.
"Goddamnit, Troy! How many times do I have to tell you to do something!" She cried out to herself as her temper guided her to pick up the sack and aggressively swing them around to the door of the walk-in cooler. She opened the walk-in door just as she finished her cursing and was shocked to find Troy standing on the other side. Samantha thought herself a decent height at 5'7 but she felt so small in that moment as Troy towered above her.
"I thought you were gone for the night," she said a little embarrassed at her outburst that he surely heard through the door.
"No," he smirked, "I still had some work to do but it looks like you got impatient." His voice was deep and gravely and while the words were delivered with a barb, he was also amused at her backing down so quickly.
She pushed through the narrow door to the cooler and past him to put the sack on a rack. The cool air felt good as the alcohol really began to heat her up. The potatoes settled on the rack with a thud and she then turned to walk out but was startled to see Troy followed her to the racks and was standing barely inches away from her.
"You know, I can't tell if you like me or not," his blue eyes pierced into hers from under his ball cap as a playfully confused look came across his face. "Like, I see you constantly checking me out but when you do talk to me you are just so mean."
Her back was against the racks and he was so close that her breasts were almost pressing into his abdomen. Her heart was definitely elevated and her breath excited but controlled. She could feel her nipples get hard as her mind raced through her fantasies and day dreams now being so close to Troy.
"So, seriously, which is it? Do you like me?" He asked her matter of factly.
