This is only my second erotic work, so any constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated!
***
"My first impression?" Juliet smiled to herself as she thought about the first time she had laid eyes on Matthew. Her smile grew a little wider, and she hoped her mischievous thoughts weren't visible from her face alone. She remembered seeing him looking at her from across the room the first time they met, he was wearing a suit with a blue tie that matched his eyes. And her first thought after that was an inappropriate one. "I remember thinking that your tie matched your eyes. Then when you introduced yourself, I had this feeling that you were such a gentleman. I couldn't get over how nice you were." Matthew seemed taken aback by this, slightly surprised by her sincerity. Juliet laughed lightly at his reaction. "So what was yours?"
These types of questions were common during their almost daily after-work coffee 'dates.' It was the perfect time for the two co-workers turned friends to talk about any and everything.
Matthew thought back to when he first saw her, he was immediately captivated and it wasn't simply her beauty, it was her smile. The way she smiled made him immensely happy all day long. He knew her positivity wasn't forced, he could tell by looking at her eyes. And smiling was something that was natural to her, her preferred state in fact, which was definitely rare in this professional environment. From across the room, he decided he needed to get to know her. "I thought you had the most gorgeous and kind smile I had ever seen." He took a sip of his coffee and looked away nonchalantly.
She smiled as her heart pounded in her chest. She knew they were strictly friends, but often times Matt said or did things that made her wonder if he ever thought otherwise. More recently, she had been able to control her reactions to these statements, not showing him how much they had affected her.
But unbeknownst to her, Matthew thought about her more than he should have. From the beginning he knew they could only ever be friends and their relationship would need to remain professional if they were to avoid trouble from the higher ups. So while he secretly fawned over her positive personality, gorgeous face, and professional ambitiousness, he hoped they could both maintain this friendship without true feelings surfacing.
***
"Okay Matthew, of all people I thought you would be the happiest about this news." His supervisor shook her head in mock disappointment. "I mean look at Juliet, she is practically vibrating out of the chair. That is the type of excitement I am looking for!"
"Thank you for this opportunity, Mrs. Woods!" Juliet practically shouted. Matt looked over at her beaming smile. As if reading his thoughts, Juliet could sense that something was wrong with him. His jaw was set and in his eyes she caught a glimpse of conflict.
"You deserved it. You all have been working very diligently these last few months, and we are proud to have you representing our hospital." At that Juliet and Matthew left, with their co-workers Andrew and Caitlyn trailing behind. The four of them were those selected to attend the biannual conference in New York.
"Can you believe it?" Juliet looked over at Matt, who seemed upset. She grabbed his arm lightly and shook him, "10 days Matt, in New York! You're not excited?" He looked over at her and forced a smile, but over a year of friendship made it easy to recognize that something was wrong. "Are you okay?"
"Of course." He looked away. Matt could feel her staring at him, analyzing his face, observing his lie. Within the previous ten minutes he had just gone through a rollercoaster of realizations. First, the delight he felt when he found out that Juliet and him would be practically on a vacation for over a week was overwhelming. He thought about all the things they could do together, exploring New York mostly on the company's dime. He wanted to joke with her over dinner, then share a dessert. He wanted to see her in her pajamas just before she went to sleep, and then maybe again when she woke up.
Then it hit him. This could never happen, and he absolutely should not be thinking that way. Even though they disregarded the distinction unless absolutely necessary, technically Matt was a supervisory level above her. Relationships with subordinates, even the reported ones, were highly looked down upon and complicated their delicate workplace environment. Throughout his time with the company he had even seen people get unofficially blacklisted for the more public or raunchier relationships. Now instead of all of the wonderful things that they could do together, he began to wonder how he was going to keep her at an arm's length. He looked over at her again, her smile had faded and her brow was slightly furrowed. Unsurprisingly, he thought, he had already screwed things up. He hated knowing that he was the reason her smile had faded. Matt nudged her playfully, "Sorry, I was lost in thought." She looked over at him and searched his face, not yet believing that he was okay.
She could read him like a book. Where would he find the balance of remaining friendly and not falling for her even more? Matt smiled at her, "I was wondering how much fun we would be able to have, while still staying 'responsible.'" He leaned in closer to her, "How about you and me hit up a bar or two on one of our free nights?" She chuckled back at him, seemingly convinced that everything was okay. "Although I guess, we'd invite Andrew and Caitlyn."
"Sure we will, it'll be great!"
***
On the flight to New York, Juliet practically begged Matthew for the window seat, her excitement overflowing. They would arrive early Friday and have a quick check in session. The rest of the weekend free to do as they pleased, within the realm of remaining professional of course. And they wouldn't be leaving until Tuesday of the next week. At their large hospital, the opportunity to be an administrator or physician selected to attend this convention was the most sought after. Not only was it hosted in New York, but there were two free weekends during the conference and a majority of the networking was done informally at events that were more fun than work.
Matthew looked over at Juliet, she was wearing boots, yoga pants, and a slightly oversized knit sweater. When he teased her about her outfit, she had given him a small piece of hell. Repeating over and over how 'comfy' it was and how quickly it would get her through the checkpoints. In all actuality he loved those yoga pants. He could only imagine those long slim legs wrapped around his waist. If it wasn't for that adorable sweater, not much would have been left to the imagination.
Three hours into the flight, Juliet gently tapped him. "Sorry for waking you up."
"Don't worry, it was a light nap." Consistently throughout the flight, they had been encountering what they pilot called, 'slight weather disturbances' which gave the plane a few good bumps before settling again.