**8:08 P.M.**
She was sitting in front of her laptop, oblivious to my wandering eyes. Her posture bent slightly forward to type a response to an online library patron, my eyes went down to where her shirt should have met her denim skirt; but of course, her sharp dress allowed for an inch of skin to be seen there. Her forward lean buckled her dress in the back, hinting at the presence of a thong, but the opportunity was too brief as she leaned back, looked up at me, and smiled about the inept online patron, her mind fully on her job tasks.
Of course, leaning back just emphasized her breasts, which were hidden by a thin white button up shirt and some other article of clothing, presumably from some lingerie boutique. With her delightful smile, her big brown eyes, and her long, straight brown hair, Amanda had the most radiant face you could imagine. It is rare that I see an elegant woman with a beautiful face and the body to match. When she stood, as she did after looking up at me at her computer, her six foot frame might have seemed a little gangly at first, but she had just enough curves in the right places to make any man double-take when she walked by.
She walked away from me, towards the side door of the office area, her fine butt swaying. Her outfit tonight, like every other, was smart. The denim skirt she wore went just past her mid-thigh, hinting suggestiveness with her long feminine legs without being skanky. As she walked out of view towards the stacks of book holdings I breathed a sigh of regret. I truly enjoyed every second I spent with Amanda. Her pale white skin, her tall body, her perfect propriety on the job, and the nights we met for playing pool at the local hangout only whetted my desire to get closer to her, but she always kept her distance. Little did I know I was wearing down her resistance night after night.
**8:24 P.M.**
I was at the desk dealing with another academically lost student at the university library. She was asking questions about APA style references for her paper. I was only half listening to her though. As I gave curt answers, I was looking over her head to where Amanda was sitting at her desk between the rows of computers used for locating books. She was talking on the phone, most likely to a distance education student. As a librarian, she was incredibly smart. Her knowledge of a vast array of subject matters only added to her mystique. Her charisma allowed her to manipulate most of her interactions so that she maintained control. That was what I was thinking about as this young scatterbrain pressed me for a quick fix to her paper due in the morning.
I had only known Amanda for about six months. Our acquaintance started in the library where we both worked, she a librarian, and I supervised the workers who checked out and shelved books. We worked similar hours: she was the only librarian at night and I was supervising four nights a week. Eventually as we interacted at work we discovered we had much in common. Both of us resisted the strict rules at this private school, and both of us had lived in some of the same cities prior.
As a young, inept but not inexperienced, lover, I was a twenty-three year old who was constantly checking out every female for the opportunity to pleasure a woman. As a young, recently married, twenty-four year old librarian, she exuded the confidence and sexuality that left me breathless every time I saw her.
She knew that. She knew I wanted her. She knew how seductive she was when we were playing pool. While she was talking on the phone, so professional like, I am sure she knew I was transfixed on her. And I suddenly became aware that she just realized I figured this game out. I was not in control—she was.
**8:52 P.M.**
Amanda always got off an hour before I did. At 9:00 every night she would gather up her stuff, say her good-byes, and head out. I had not seen her after she was talking on the phone. As I was checking my email on my office computer, which was quite deep in the "dungeon" of library staff offices, she came by and proper her head up on my monitor with her chin. She greeted me, smiling, but still being proper. "I need to stay a little late tonight, I have to type up some reports back here, but I am off to get coffee from the campus café, would you like some?" The question was golden to my ears, for it meant another hour I might have to watch her, but I didn't drink coffee, so I replied with a no. She shrugged, said, "Suit yourself", and headed out the door.
Perhaps it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but it appeared that one of the buttons on her shirt had come undone, barely exposing her small cleavage. Of course, the thought came in my mind that she could have done that purposefully, but with her ever present dignity and propriety, I immediately dismissed that. In the end I if my mind was deceiving me, wishing for the button to be undone.
**10:07**
The last patron had left, the main floors were dark, and my workers were gathering their stuff to go back to their dorm rooms. I went in the back offices to gather my things and I was surprised to see Amanda still there. "Is it closing time already?" she asked. I told her we were all ready to go home, and that I could only hang around a few minutes before I would need to set the alarm.
My workers came to the back room where we were to use the time clock, I wished them well, doing so with sweaty palms, realizing I was about to be alone with this elegant lady. As they walked out I feigned getting my stuff together, wondering if Amanda would play her cards tonight or if I was just naïve for thinking anything of our relationship. When we were alone she continued typing, acting as if she was engrossed in her screen. I sat down to my computer.
**10:13**
"Amanda, I need to go now." The words felt clumsy coming out of my mouth. I felt like a fool thinking I would so much as get a goodnight hug from her, much less anything else.
"Um…" she faltered, "I stayed around because my husband is away on business this weekend, and I am afraid to go home alone. I had someone to stay with me, but she bailed out for tonight. Do you think you could drive me home and check the house out before I go in? I know it sounds weird, but I would feel much better, and I would be happy to speak to a security guard so they could extend your curfew." Since I was a student of the university as well as a worker, I had an 11:00 p.m. curfew.
I knew that meant one of two things. Either all of this was just my mind playing tricks on me, tricks that made me think there was something more than what was there, or that Amanda had just took control of the entire situation, making me helpless to her control.
Being the gentleman I was, I obliged her. On our way out of campus, she had me stop at the security shack, where she told him the whole situation, and got approval for me to skip curfew check for the evening. I realized as I drove off that it would be almost twenty-five hours before someone would check for me again, wondering if this was all part of a high stakes game.
**10:34**
I had never been to her house before, and I could see why she could have been afraid. I was petrified myself. It was a three story house, built almost one hundred years ago according to her. They were in the process of remodeling, and as I drove up I saw lots of building equipment outside, plastic over some of the windows, a sprawling porch with some obvious need of repairs, and a house that looked like the stuff of nightmares. She asked me to go in and look around, telling me where the lights were.
As I got out of the car, expecting her to follow, she called to me. "Here are the keys, come let me know when everything checks out." Ah, I was to do this alone. I swallowed the sinking feeling to my gut, manned up and entered the house.
The first room looked like it had been remodeled already. It had beautiful wooden floors, exquisite antique furniture, and everything seemed perfect. In fact, most of the downstairs, and about half of the upper floors were in pristine condition. One of the second-story rooms I entered had a couple of saw horses in the room, and several walls were missing the dry wall. It looked as if someone had been doing framing work recently. I was about head out when I noticed the plastic stapled to the window had been severely ripped at the bottom. Knowing rain was coming tonight, I looked for some plastic and a stapler, but did not find them.
After I checked the entire house, I went back outside to where I had parked my car. Amanda was sitting on the hood of it, looking glamorous as always. The faint porch light betrayed that beauty, and for the fist time I could remember I saw that she was not sitting with her legs crossed. Though she did not have them open more than a few inches, the light revealed much. If it wasn't for the irregular shadows the house was casting, I might have seen the full Monty. My imagination was hard at work when she interrupted it by asking if everything was ok.
I told her I chased all the monsters away, not forgetting to tell her about the window.
She replied, "I am going to need some help with that if you don't mind. I don't have the hand strength to operate one of those industrial staplers."
Back into the house I went, this time she followed. She showed me the roll of plastic, which I threw over my shoulders, and she grabbed a stapler from the garage, meeting me upstairs. Five minutes of measuring, cuttings, holding, and stapling led to a lot of interesting views for this salivating library supervisor. I thought for sure this was going to lead into staring in each other's eyes and perhaps even a kiss that would start it all. However, soon enough we were putting away supplies, and extending her gratitude.As we walked down the stairs she offered me a Coke, knowing my weak point for the carbonated beverage. She grabbed one from her refrigerator and we plopped down on separate couches in the living room. She was once again all things proper, without so much of a hint of tease as we talked about college, sports, and the job. After about twenty minutes of talk she grabbed the controller and flicked on ESPN to check up on her beloved baseball team's score.