Heather 2.0

"How are you doing Fun Size?" asked Hailey.

Heather shook her head.

Hailey burst out laughing, quickly followed by Heather. The two friends and coworkers hugged.

Hailey was about 5' 8", red haired and solidly built. Her sense of humor shaded toward the intentionally shocking at times. She was in her default jeans and hoodie.

Heather came in at a petite 5' 4", dark brunette hair in a shoulder length lob, maybe a little over half of Hailey's weight. She looked trim in her white button down and jeans.

'Fun size' was her friend's nickname for her anytime it came to Heather and James. Hailey knew it made her wince.

"I'm alright, you still crying in the shower, drinking box wine?"

Hailey's turn to wince.

"Never living

that

one down, am I?"

"Not a chance. Damn it's good to see you Hales, just not the same over Skype is it."

"No, it is not. Hey, you can rejoin the MBA!" There was a morning video chat among coworkers to jointly tackle NYT word puzzles. They called it the "morale building activity".

"Yup, totally missed it in Fairbanks, no way I was getting in by 5 even for you lunatics."

Heather was a program manager for a satellite communications company; she'd been sent for a year to Alaska to help kickstart several projects.

Heather sobered slightly.

"He in?"

Hailey had no doubt who 'he' was; there couldn't be any.

"Yeah, he's around here somewhere. He hasn't talked about you much but you can tell he's been waiting for you to get in."

Hailey hesitated.

"He didn't think you were coming back."

"I promised him I would. Promised you too bestie."

Hailey snorted at 'bestie'. Everyone could tell when she was genuinely amused; they'd get a snort.

"Well,

bestie

, I didn't have a doubt. James... you know how it is with him; he has it bad for you... "

"And he wasn't sure I would come back?"

"He was sure someone was going to snap you up. Dave and that little black dress rattled him. It's not that he didn't believe you."

"But he didn't believe me."

"Didn't believe in himself. Shit, now I'm getting all philosophical like".

"Yes, stop it."

Change the subject Heather.

"What do you think of the 2.0 model; how do I look?"

Hailey sized her up and down. She'd done well on herself over the last year; lost a little weight, trimmed up. Heather had done it for no one but herself, getting her looks to catch up with her self-confidence.

"You look good, better than when you left..."

"Oh thanks."

"You know what I mean. You can tell you've been working on yourself, but you're still you."

"Thanks." She got a faraway look on her face. "You know I love that guy dearly... "

Hailey gave Heather an 'oh really?' look.

"You know what I mean... "

"Yup, and it was exactly what it sounded like. You two have always been the last to know."

Heather reddened. "We knew... "

"You just didn't talk about it. Even when the two of you were lying in bed in the middle of the night talking."

"You make it sound way sexier than it was. We were thousands of miles apart in our own beds."

"Which meant he was up at 2 AM just to talk to

you

. You're not going to win you know."

Mostly to herself Heather said wistfully, "He

was

into me before I did all this."

Her friend changed up in tone. "Alright, go find him then, do it on his desk".

"Hailey!"

"OK, bent over his desk, I don't care."

"Hey, I'm not that kind of girl!"

"Good luck," said the redhead in all seriousness.

"Thanks".

*****

Heather dropped her purse off in her cube, at odds with what to do next. She could fire up her computer but she already knew all she'd do was stare and wait for James to get to his desk.

As if she had summoned him, James walked down the aisle and looked toward her cube on the way by. Unbeknownst to her he'd done that everyday for the last year. Heather saw him start ever so slightly and keep walking.

He dithered over turning around and going back but he was too self-conscious, sure everyone would be watching.

James sat down at his desk at the end of the aisle by the wall; he had no thought in mind but her. He'd caught a glimpse of Heather 2.0, she'd coined the term, in the flesh; the hair was killing him, her legs even more so. James briefly ran back the tape of his latest number one fantasy: her in a tank top and underwear. And she was in the process of losing the tank top...

"Hey you."

James snapped out of the daydream, turning red, here was the real person and not just something to occupy his thoughts at night. Or in the shower. Or... It was nothing new, he'd been like this before she left, it had only grown more acute in the intervening months.

A part of her was amused that he stood up to greet her. It was so archaically gentlemanly, so sweet.

"Hi Heather."

James was 5' 8", brown hair, way too self-conscious about his weight. He still lingered at Heather 1.0 levels, which is to say a little extra but not too much. A company polo with khakis was his daily outfit.

Both of them had an overwhelming urge to hug, which they battled back. There was an almost awkward pause, they weren't sure where to start, but James got there before it got too noticeable.

"It's good to have you back." He indicated the chair in the empty cubicle across from his and sat down. "I... we missed you while you were doing all that good work out there. Everyone was following your exploits."

"'Following'?"

"OK it was just the two times, on the internal company news feed."

"Oh, I knew about the one from the awards dinner," the one with the little black dress, "what's the other?"

"Hold on". James called it up on his computer; Heather rolled over to get a better look.

The image was of Heather decked out in running gear at a company run two weeks earlier in Alaska. She was smiling and doing a calf stretch while wearing purple accented black leggings and a matching crop top. (Dave was nearby, mugging for the camera). Real life Heather, hand over mouth, stared at the image before revealing an amused smile.

"Oh my God, I never thought of it getting posted when I saw the phone, everybody was taking pictures... "

James was clearly confused.

"It's a great picture what's the problem?", he said not knowing he'd made the editorial comment out loud.

"You know Lise Morgan?"

"Only by name."

"She's the one who talked me into that top, (against my better judgement). Said it would show off the stomach I worked so hard on and draw attention away from my lack of... " Heather clamped the sentence off.

I like your chest just as it is.

She continued. "Oh... that's embarrassing. God knows what people have been doing with that image."

James tried to look innocent.

Neither noticed her hand on his shoulder.

"I mean that's a lot of skin showing, for me. I don't want people thinking I see myself as all that."

Oh, to hell with it.

"It's a great picture," repeated James, "you look really good."

Heather colored and realized where her hand was. She removed it from his shoulder but took her time doing it.

Oh to hell with it. Again.

"Dave kept winding up in photos with you."

He's adorable, he really did worry about me and Dave.

"He had his picture taken with everyone at the dinner; he was doing what a VP of Marketing does best; marketing himself. The run... he probably wanted to be seen in a picture with me. I, uh, get more looks these days." She shrugged.

"Oh."

Oh James, let's try the direct approach.

"It's nothing, I was saving up all the allure for back here. You know, home, this aisle... " Her hand touched his shoulder again, this time knowingly. Wordlessly Heather looked at him, brows raised, a smug look on her face.

James could only hold her gaze so long before turning away, a budding smile on his face.

"We put a thing together for you down at the Pub, sorry it's short notice but we had to go with tonight. It was the only way to sync up everybody's schedules. There was no way Hailey

wasn't

going to attend and she's booked up after that. And I wanted to do it sooner rather than later."

"Perfect, I didn't want to unpack tonight anyway."

"I've got you covered for drinks and dinner, if you want to do pub food, I know you watch those kind of things these days. We're starting officially at 6:00 but I'm going down early to stake out a big table. Oh and, as far as your tab goes, you're authorized to break the bank."

"Unlimited beer and food, don't threaten me with a good time. I'll file a diet waiver as soon as I get back to my desk. Come get me when you leave, no use sitting alone."

Heather tossed him an over the shoulder smile as she went back to her cube.

*****

Even after finally getting to talk to James she was still useless for the rest of the day. She didn't know it but he was in the same state.

*****

James stepped up to Heather's cubicle that afternoon.

"I need you to look at something with me. Bring up the share drive Archive folder if you would."

The Archive was a mess, even after periodic attempts to organize it. James tried to direct her to the files he was looking for but it was taking a lot work, he didn't get all the file names correct, there were subfolders to dig through...

He reached down and before she could take her hand off of the mouse put his on top of hers gently.

"Here let me."

Nice setup. Very smooth, very cute.

Heather's adrenaline red lined, she felt warm in her stomach. And below that.

"This may take a while." She said in a low voice, her tone boarded on seductive.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I can't spend as much time on this as I'd like, it's a little personal project of mine."

"Well, if I can help in the future just let me know," her voice was cheery, for the benefit of her coworkers, her look said, 'Wasn't that fun!'.

James stepped out of the cubicle and saw Hailey at the end of the aisle. She was wordlessly nodding, a satisfied smirk on her face. James shrugged, smiled, and went back to his desk.

Heather had a little fan going at her desk, some days in Summer the a/c went spotty. This was not one of those days.

"Is it hot in here? It doesn't feel hot to me," opined Hailey.

"Oh, it's plenty hot in her. Positively steamy."

"Well don't forget to hydrate, you're all wet... you know, from sweating in the heat."

Tell me you didn't just say that Hales.

Hailey grinned.

*****

Not long after Heather showed up at James' desk.

"I found something for you to look at for your personal project."

She took the mouse and was clearly just moving it around soley for verisimilitude; she certainly wasn't hitting a single thing on the screen. With her free hand she undid the top two buttons on her shirt. A single finger traced up and down her chest as if she were deep in thought. James didn't see anything more than he would have if she'd been wearing a vee neck. It didn't matter; it was Heather.

Then she upped the ante.

The finger lifted the shirt ever so slowly away from her, just enough for him to take in the view. Heather was wearing a white triangle bra with lace edging; she didn't need a lot of support given her bust size. James came to a sudden realization.

He finally knew what the term 'perky' meant.

With the same nonchalance as when she unbuttoned the shirt, she reversed the process.

"You wanna go get coffee?", she asked playfully.

"How about in a half hour? I think I'm going to sit here a moment. You know there are these great calming exercises you can do at your desk."

James thought there might have been a little strut in her walk as she went down the aisle.

*****

Heather and James got to the Pub with plenty of time to spare. They were sharing a beer when a look came over his face.

"OK, I gotta know, did you wear that bra on purpose today?"

Big smile.

"Honestly, I wore it for just me, you know, give myself a little boost. Although maybe I did it subconsciously, it's probably the nicest I have".

"I'll be the judge of that."

Heather sat back, a 'Oh, yeah?' look on her face.

Suddenly he seemed distracted. She wondered what was going on, coming off such a flirty comment.

"I missed you. The calls at night were... incredibly special, but... I missed you. Badly."

Heather took his hand.

"I missed you too. I loved our nights 'together'. Obvious question: Why didn't we do something sooner?"

"We did it in exactly the amount of time it took to do it."

"Woah, those are some good calming exercises".

Coworkers began to file in. Heather released his hand.

"We'll go public, just not tonight. I am

not

thinking clearly today, thank you very much for that, and I want to do it intentionally, properly. And it takes everything I've got to keep Hailey contained at the moment. Talk tomorrow about it, promise."

"Good idea. And you realize, everybody suspects what's going on."

"But they don't

know

; let them steep."

*****

Heather couldn't play pool to save her life. James could tell from her demeanor that it was legit and not feigned. Soon, they found James tucked up against her, his hands on hers, giving her pointers, lining up shots. Both dissolved into giggles.

"First the mouse and now this. God help me I'm living in a romcom," she said, tears forming from all the laughter. James simply nodded, chuckling. He recovered after a moment.

"Well, if this were a romcom I think this is the part where we duck out and have sex".

"Have you ever considered writing for Hollywood? We need a diversion."

Arriving at the same conclusion they looked at each other, speaking simultaneously.

"Hailey."

*****

"Sure thing. Go have one for me."

Typical Hailey.

*****

James and Heather held hands as they walked back to the parking deck at work.

'What did you do during the winter? You couldn't run outside so, treadmill?"

"No, I don't like them, I feel like everything is still moving after I step off. I found an indoor pool; it's not the same muscles but it helps with breathing."

She could tell he was visualizing that.

"Yeah, I spent half the winter wet." She drew out the last syllable.

A beat later...

"Need some calming exercises over there?", she asked sweetly.

They came up on a Walgreen's.

"We need to stop for anything?", he asked.

"Nope, all good. Does it seem backwards to you? Having sex when we've never even kissed? Hell, barely touched." Heather held up their joined hands.

"Let's fix that", he replied. The height difference proved not insurmountable. The two spent a moment with their tongues lightly playing together.

"Not entirely unpleasant", said Heather stepping back, a contemplative, deliberative expression on her face.

*****

They'd decided to go to his apartment since hers wasn't fully set up yet. It was too cute, they parked next to each other. Both were leaning against their cars, regarding each other.

"Not to take us out of the moment," began James, "but how do you want to play this? Throw ourselves at each other or the slow, romantic approach?" Heather got a sexy little smile on her face. She already knew her answer was the same as his.

"First time... romantic. There's the whole haven't touched thing. I seriously feel that needs correcting. It may take same work to get it right."

"Isn't that amazing, I had the very same thought."

James watched her pull a gym bag from the trunk.

"Don't want to forget the whips and chains..."

*****

James was unlocking the door...

"Um, it's a little messy, and messy adjacent".

"It's cute how you think I'll even see your apartment." Heather tossed her bag who knows where once they were in. And they came together. They were getting the hang of the kissing thing. James thought to be a good host...

"You want anything? I think I have some beer left."

"The only thing I want is you."

Good answer

.

It was indeed romantic, nothing frantic, nicely paced. Neither minded that they were still standing just inside the front door. That didn't stop Heather from noticing that he was growing hard under the khakis. He beat her to her next thought.

"So that's the living room, next on our tour is the bedroom."

They stopped at the foot of his bed but before they could come together again James looked her in the eye and started pulling her shirt tails from her jeans. Mirroring him, Heather pulled his polo up and kept going until it fell somewhere behind him. He had a look of concentration on his face, she bit her lip, as he steadily, progressively unbuttoned her white shirt. James parted it enough to again see her bra, this time from a more complete vantage point.

"You're going to need to explain to me how something can be both sexy and cute at the same time," he said. Heather smiled and leaned in.

"Well take me for example... "

"Oh, I intend to."

Her shirt fell to the floor. Heather ran her hands over his chest as they started kissing again. James returned the favor but with her back and sides as his playground. He paused to look at her.

She only had to nod.

James ran his thumbs over her nipples through the thin material of the bra. Heather's breath caught and her lip got bitten again.

"Oh look, how convenient," quipped James undoing the front hook. Again, he reflected on how wrong Lise Morgan was, each breast was a pleasant handful; his thumbs continued rubbing. Heather dropped her head against his shoulder and made a happy little sound. She reached up, hands behind his head and pulled his lips onto hers.

Holding the kiss but letting go of him, she let her hands trail downward. She opened his pants and pulled off both the khakis and his underwear in one fluid motion. Heather sat at the foot of the bed and walked him over to her. The combination of her mouth and steady stroking consumed his full attention after that. This first time he refrained from doing anything, letting her be in total charge. If it were possible he got even harder.

All too soon, from his point of view, because it was now or never, James stepped back and pulled her to her feet. Her jeans and panties got whisked away, James wrapped his arms around her, picking her up, kissing her deeply while lowering her to the bed. His tongue trailed down her body only stopping when he got between her legs. Heather clutched the sheets, eyes squeezed shut, breath held. A few moments in, she held James' head against herself, moaning. A few moments after that she got there.

James joined her, lying next to her, propped on one elbow, as she caught her breath. Heather gave him a tired smile, her eyes rolling back in her head in dramatic fashion. She reached for him, pulling him into yet another kiss that clearly, wordlessly communicated what she wanted. He slipped into her. Despite having more than made up for all the times they hadn't kissed in the last year plus, they kept at it. No surprise, things sped up, moving ever faster, until they both came to a satisfying stop.

This time they

both

paused to catch their breath. It had been a long time coming. They looked at each other, pleased with themselves. James got a faux serious expression on his face.

"Well, that was... adequate," he said.

"I know, right? I think it needs work myself. We'll just have to keep trying until we get it down don't you think?", responded Heather.

"I concur." He looked into her eyes.

"You know it was Heather 1.0 I fell for, right?"

"I do, never had any doubt. That's why I'm here with you right now."

A gentle kiss was exchanged and they settled in closer to each other for the night.