It was the passion that drew her to him. Not his face, not that slight shadow of facial hair, not even those clear blue eyes. It was the passion he exuded, the passion she felt for him, the passion she knew they could create if they just gave it a try. All they had to do was throw caution to the wind, take that plunge. She knew if they just gave themselves a chance, they could have something beautiful.
There was a slight flaw in her plan. She didn't let herself think about it much, but it was always there, a thorn in her side. He was married. Neither of them paid it much mind, didn't bring it up in conversation. They both acted like it didn't exist, as if his vows were just a minor inconvenience, a mosquito buzzing about their plans.
So here she was, late on a Friday night, huddled beneath the covers. She'd worked side by side with him all day, thought about him the entire drive home, and here she was in her bed, letting her mind drift to an alternate reality where the two of them could be together.
They'd hugged just once at the end of the day, to sustain themselves. They'd gone behind the trash cans where the smokers gathered during the day, but just to be safe, they didn't dare go further. As much as she'd longed to lean forward and kiss those firm lips of him, she controlled herself. Her nose pressed to his shoulder, she breathed him in deep, knowing this would be their last encounter for the weekend. She was higher on the ladder than him, she'd been there longer, so she got weekends off. Before, it had seemed like a blessing. Now it was a curse. She longed to be in his arms again, craved even a glimpse from his amazing eyes.
Her mind drifted to the first day they'd met. She'd been there a few weeks, just long enough to feel confident. As she settled at her computer for a long day of credit card applications, she spied what could only be the new training class out of the corner of her eye.
"Look, there's the newbies," she said, leaning over the low wall that separated her desk from that of her friend and colleague, Chris.
"Wow, there's only three of them," he replied. "Seems like the classes are getting smaller."
"It's all your fault," she'd teased him. "You're too handsome, you're scaring them all away." He grinned, then winced as his headset beeped, alerting him to his next call. Her eyes strayed from him and watched the "newbies" as they wandered toward the training room, their eyes scanning the room of agents warily. She took the moment to appraise them, sizing them each up. A young-ish skinny guy, mid 20's at the oldest, looked around, obviously bored. He was good-looking, she supposed, in that sort of obvious way that got old fast. There was a girl who looked fresh out of high school, about fifty pounds overweight, with a slighly snobby but not altogether unkind look on her face. And the third....she'd only gotten a brief look when BEEP BEEP went her headset, and she switched into her persona.
Selling credit cards was to make a deal with the devil. She knew every day she was taking applications from people with no chance at the Platinum cards she threw at them, knew these nice people were torching their credit by applying, but it was a living. She was paid per sale, and she made the most of it. The moment she answered, her young voice confident to draw the customer in, getting this sale was her only goal. And she knew, from the moment the elderly gentleman stammered about his medical bills and his wife's passing, she could get it. All was well.
She didn't see the newbies again for a few days. They'd pretty much faded from her mind until that Tuesday, when she wandered into the cafeteria in search of a drink. The cocky guy wasn't there, but there were the other two, together at a table on the far side of the room. Now, at last, she got a good glimpse of the third one, and was suddenly and oddly speechless.
It wasn't that he was attractive, per se, but he had this charming quality about him. There was an ever-present twinkle in his blue eyes, his face was shaven but there was a slight sexy shadow of whiskers on his chin.
"So, you're the newbies?" She half-joked, joining them at their table.