I had known Jon for about 3 years. He was a partner at my firm and was in his late 40s. An attractive man, he had the build of a football player, and didn't look a day over 40. He had this boyish charm about him that made him fun to be around and easy to talk to. As a result, he became a mentor and confidante to me, and one that I very much relied on as I navigated my way through the company. I was in my late 20s, and was well on my way up the corporate ladder. I was fantastic at my job, so my upward trajectory had nothing to do with my looks which are certainly more than passably attractive.
Jon liked to have a good time, so he often took the team out for dinner and drinks, sometimes leading to late nights at the bar, tequila shots, and raging hangovers for all. On my 30th birthday, a small group of us had gone out for celebratory drinks, Jon included. I hadn't seen him in several weeks, so I was happy to spend much of the evening catching up with him. There were some things going on at work that I had been wanting to talk to him about to get his advice.
After a few hours of work talk, the rest of the group started looking for more entertaining pursuits. We ended up at a piano bar with live music and strong drinks. At one point most of us went up on stage to sing a less than on tune version of Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me. A slower song came on as we were hopping down off the stage and as Jon reached up to assist me down the steps, I kept hold of his hand and urged him to dance with me. A proficient ballroom dancer, Jon twirled me around making me laugh with delight. Too much of a type A personality, I normally find it difficult not to lead, but Jon made it seem easy.
After closing down one bar, we made our way to the 'late night' haunts that Jon and I had frequented all too many times. The rest of the group had bailed, claiming it was too late, so it was just the two of us. At this point, I will admit to having consumed more than enough alcohol to qualify me as pretty darn drunk.
At one point a young couple approached us and introduced themselves. We chatted politely for some minutes before the guy blurted out ' my girlfriend thinks you really hot." It took me a beat before I realized that he was talking to me rather than Jon. I smiled at the compliment. The girl in question was pretty. She had long brown hair and the kind of flawless white skin that made her look like a doll. For whatever reason, perhaps for the shock factor, perhaps because it was my birthday, I don't know exactly what my reason was - I leaned forward and kissed her.
It wasn't my first time having kissed a girl, though I prefer men to women in the bedroom. The kiss was nice. Her lips were soft and smelled faintly of strawberries from her lip gloss. I pulled away, licking away the lipstick that had transferred over to my mouth. I glanced around and realized that we had attained an audience. Half of the bar had turned their attention to the two girls kissing. A bit concerned about Jon's reaction, I glanced at him and was met by what I can only describe as an exasperated look, gentled by a slight smile. As if he could expect nothing less from me. There was nothing in his expression that resembled the unbridled lust that was radiating from the other men in the room.
Shortly thereafter, I decided to call it a night. Jon ordered a car and accompanied me back to my apartment. I found nothing out of the ordinary with this. Ever the father figure, Jon had done the same thing several times previous - preferring to make sure I get safely home before heading home himself. Only once, and we had both been really drunk at the time, had he ever done anything to cross the line of friendly co-workers to something more. That time, he had tried to talk me into going to his apartment to see some new gadget he had purchased. I politely declined, and we'd never spoken of it again.
As we got into the car, the late hour finally caught up with me. Yawning, I comfortably leaned against Jon's shoulder as the car navigated the darkened streets of the city. Again, this was not out of the ordinary. I had always been very comfortable around Jon (probably due to how often we'd been crammed into the back seat of a taxi together). He gently stroked my hair away from my face and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. There was nothing sexual in his action, just a comforting gesture that I had grown accustomed to (particularly while out drinking with him).
We sat comfortably in silence for the duration of the trip and before I knew it we were pulling up to my building. Jon got out first, and then helped me out of the car. Usually he would wait until I got inside before pulling away. This time was different. He took my elbow and escorted me to the door of my building. The taxi pulled away as we stepped into the entryway. I was curious but not exactly upset over this development. I had never really considered Jon in a sexual way. He was a great friend, certainly, someone I very much trusted. We entered the building in silence and I let him into my condo.
