Author's Note: This story is the first I've ever published, and I really appreciate the comments, views, and votes. I thought the story was too long so I cut the ending, but from the comments I can tell that a less rushed ending would have been better. This edited version adds to the previous story and does not take away from the original. I hope you enjoy, please let me know if you want to see more from me and what you think would help me improve as an author. I'm open to all comments. Special thanks to my editors mymariamaria and gustavca.
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LAST CHANCE
It had been nine months since Zach had been promoted and transferred to a new division of the company. In his short time there, he managed to earn the esteem of his colleges and superiors alike. His reputation was that of a smart, hardworking, and determined manager constantly exceeding company expectations. Last month he was offered a packaged deal of promotion and relocation, this time to company headquarters, far from his current job on the west coast.
Zach was ecstatic and quickly accepted the offer; today was his last day at the office. Accepting the offer made him the youngest employee to reach such a position, but for all the accolades and congratulations he received, he still felt a dull, almost overbearing, sense of melancholy; he would have to part company with Heidi, the one person whose presence he really felt in the office.
"Wow, he's on his way to the top, I hope he does well at corporate," said Heidi, taking a bite out of her salad, as she responded casually to Jen's apparent astonishment at Zach's promotion, and then quickly changed the subject of conversation to her big meeting later in the day. Jen had just had a conversation with Zach to say goodbye and wish him luck at his new job.
In truth however, Heidi's feelings about Zach were anything but casual. She didn't know quite how she felt about him, but she knew she did feel something; she was attracted to him. Their relationship could only be described as professional, Zach was always pleasant and cheerful to her when he passed her in the halls, and she always felt his intense brown eyes on her when they saw each other. Were anybody else to look at her in that manner she would find it strange, but when Zach did, she never felt any agitation, just an overwhelming feeling of what could be described as genuineness from him.
She didn't understand why he didn't befriend her like all the other women in the office; yes, he was cordial with her, but he would never come over and banter with her like he did with Jen and the other girls at their desks. It was like there was an invisible barrier between them. Whenever she eavesdropped on his conversations, they were always of subjects she was interested in and he seemed to be very well versed in them, his personality was just as attractive as he was. Once, in need of an intelligent and witty discussion, she decided to join in on a conversation Zach was having with Ally; although she used the pretext that she needed to ask Ally a question about her upcoming vacation to enter the room, when she thought the time was right.
As she nonchalantly walked in on their conversation, Zach quickly gave her a warm greeting, "Good morning Heidi," and smiled at her, plainly happy to see her. He then looked to Ally. "Sorry for taking up so much of your time. I'll come back tomorrow and we can finish up then. I'm sure Heidi has more important things to discuss with you," he said as he walked out, leaving Heidi with Ally.
Such an abrupt departure would have been awkward with anybody else, but somehow Zach's charm found a way to make it casual and cheerful. Both women wanted him to stay, and Ally clearly resented the interruption of their conversation.
Heidi didn't understand why he didn't carry on the conversation, it was apparent Heidi was in no hurry and in fact interested in the conversation when she interrupted, what was the problem? The ambivalent signals she received from Zach always left her bewildered and upset.
"He has such a crush on you," Ally said, clearly observing Zach's nervousness around Heidi.
Heidi had quickly brushed off Ally's comment. Zach never made any gestures to her implying he felt that way. Plus, he was a grown man and made it clear he knew how to talk to women in the office he was interested in. Although, if he ever did approach her, she wasn't sure what exactly she would do.
Boxing up his office supplies, Zach took moment to think about life in a new city with new people all around him. Would any of them possess even half the beauty of Heidi? He doubted it. None of the women he'd met in his life compared. He wasn't a playboy, but he did go out with his fair share of women, and none of them seemed to compare to her. It wasn't just a physical attraction; it was beyond that. She was the ideal woman, with respect to all characteristics he considered essential.
She was beautiful and cute (the two traits being distinct in Zach's mind), and she was well educated, he thought her his intellectual equal or superior. He knew that she was an athlete in college and still took very good care of her body. She was also sociable -- not aggressively, but in a reserved manner, which made her all the more adorable. Finally, she had a smile that seemed to stop time around him. But there was only one problem with Heidi. She was engaged.
He had made the right decision. He had to move on and forget about her, he resolved as he put the last of his belongings in the box. He could not have her, and being around her was pointless. He wasn't going to risk his career and emotions by entangling himself with somebody who was clearly in a relationship. She was his only distraction in the office, and perhaps the only person ever to make him nervous. It was a wholly unfamiliar situation to him. He was used to being in control of himself all the time, but around her he would lose himself at times; distancing himself seemed the best course.
He recalled the first time he saw her, he was walking to his first meeting down a long hall when a woman darted out of her office in front of him and started down the hall. Immediately, he noticed her figure. Her short auburn hair fell gently on her collar. She wore a silver blouse, exposing her slim naked shoulders and soft delicate hands. Unlike the other women in the office, she didn't wear heels or a skirt, but what she wore suited her figure very well.
Most of all he noticed her ass. It was beautiful. It was not large or small, but just right to him. Her light grey pants clung to it naturally, they were neither too tight nor so loose so they did injustice to her beautiful figure. She wore her clothes in a manner that did not flaunt the beautiful proportions of her backside, but only gave hints that it was there, beneath a layer of shyness and modesty.
Seeing such a perfect ass, Zach had to imagine what it looked like without the pants. It was sort of a habit he had whenever he saw a beautiful woman. But Heidi's modestly made this very difficult, as the first step in imaging a woman's ass was to determine what type of underwear she was wearing. He could not figure out what kind of underwear she was wearing, as the pants were too loose to give any hints. This irritated him. He was a pretty good judge of ass, and, by proxy, the underwear that went with it. He decided she must have a thong on, as is usually the case when he didn't see visible panty lines (spotting them was a guilty pleasure of his as tight cotton panties were a big of fetish for him).
As he walked behind her, imagining her ass with just a small pink thong on (pink was the default color he choose when imagining thongs, which was inferior to the cotton panty, but still attractive), he heard somebody shout his name, which caused him to look behind and lose the image of her perfect ass in his mind. It was Gary calling him to inform him what to expect at the meeting before entering the room.
"Today's meeting is just for the managers to get on the same page before starting the week. You'll probably have to introduce yourself, and maybe give a short address to the rest of the team," Gary said.
Acknowledging Gary, and turning back around he noticed the magnificent ass, with the still unknown face, had disappeared when his attention was on Gary. Disappointingly, he followed Gary into the meeting room at Gary's much slower pace.
The meeting went well, Zach introduced himself and gave a clever little anecdote about who he was. Many in the room found him very articulate, intelligent, and humorous. It was clear he would make plenty of friends in his new workplace. After the meeting, everybody came up to greet Zach with a handshake and few words of welcome. As he struggled to remember all the names and exchange pleasantries, he met her.
The most beautiful face he had ever seen approached him. She had short auburn hair, a silver blouse, and light grey pants. It was the girl with the magnificent ass, except her figure from behind paled in comparison to her full frontal beauty, especially her face. She had a very pleasing set of lips, adorned with nothing but chap stick. A natural blush filled her cheeks, and seemed to arise from her bashfulness in meeting him. She didn't have large or amble bosoms, but small subtle breasts that were the perfect shape and size for her body. Her small cute nose, and large beautiful brown eyes combined with her smile were so overwhelming his heart skipped a beat when he first saw her.
It was love at first sight. She was perfect.
She held out her delicate hand and said with a radiant smile, "Hi, I'm Heidi. We won't be working in the same section, but I'm glad to meet you."
As he shook her comparatively small hand and touched her for the first time, they both locked eyes. Something happened. They both felt a pleasant shock, enjoying each other's touch. He was determined to get to know her better, and he felt she enjoyed his company too.
In a nervous voice, he responded, "Hi, Heidi, very nice to meet you, look forward to seeing you around the office."
"Me too," she responded and moved on as Jen and Ally came up behind her to introduce themselves. All three of them had just introduced themselves to him when his supervisor grabbed him and took him to meet the company CEO, who was about to depart the room.
