"Welcome in!"
I smiled, but I was thinking "who on earth decided that was a good way to greet customers? It just sounds wrong, unless that's the name of your hotel. What about 'welcome to Espressotopia?' French Pressure? Friends with Beanifits?'
"Sir?"
"Oh, sorry. Lost in thought" I said with a smile.
"And what can we get the philosopher today?" She was a pretty little Latina. I didn't have to look at her name tag to know her name was Adriana. I'd been coming here a lot since I retired.
"Oh, the usual I guess --" We said it together "large medium roast with a tiny bit of hazelnut syrup." I laughed. Clearly I'd fallen into a routine. The smile she gave me with my receipt said that routines aren't all bad.
Sheesh, when I had I last seen a smile like that? I remember, it was when Kathryn had introduced me to our new pool girl. That particular introduction had taken a bit over three hours. And it was a bit over twenty years ago, I realized sadly. That had been a darned good birthday. Fucking great birthday. No way would next week's be nearly as good. I found a table and sat down, opening the book I'd brought. Retiring a bit early was great, but it introduced one big problem. Work had been a very valuable distraction from the nut-wrenching horniness I had been coping with for years. A friend had mentioned how relaxing it was to be older and not feel the need to chase skirts all the time, and I'd nearly punched him. I must have hid my feelings well, because he didn't stop hanging out with me -- or flinch -- but I knew I needed to do something.
So gym three times a week, and coffee on Tuesdays and Thursdays had become my answer. I was feeling better than I had in years. That felt great, but a healthy body meant more sex drive. I was starting to go a bit crazy. Er.
"Large with hazelnut? Hello?"
I got up and went up to the pickup counter. Adriana was waiting with my coffee, and an even bigger smile. Whatever was making her smile like that, I was in favor of it. The Led Zeppelin line "trade a smile with someone who's blue" popped into my head. I gave as good as I got, flashing my average guy smile at her dazzling grin. She practically skipped away, back to the cash register.
I took my coffee back to my table and got back into my book. I was studying up. I wanted to refresh myself before I started teaching that fall. I'd gotten accepted at the local community college, teaching chemistry. Part time at first, we'd see how it goes.
I was almost done with my coffee. I had been studying for a while, remembering old projects that were connected to specific topics in the book when I realized that Adriana was putting a lot of work in cleaning the next table over. A LOT of work. When she stood up, she seemed taller than I thought she was. Then she leaned way over again, like she was trying to wipe down a chair from this side of the table. Not that I was complaining. At all. Her skirt was long and professional for the setting, until she leaned that far over. An ankle length burlap sack wouldn't have hidden that shapely little ass, I thought to myself. But there was something odd going on.
Holy shit, I had a boner that was threatening to tip my table over. That hadn't happened in a while, in public at least. Was it -- my eyes drifted back up to where Adriana had been cleaning the table, and I froze.
She was standing up, facing me, and staring at my lap. Oh shit. Shit shit shit and let's all say it together, shit.
"Mr. Anderson" she paused, and I swear I held my breath.... "will you come with me please?"
I looked around, checking for I don't know what, and when I looked back she was reaching for my hand. The look on her face was difficult to read. So was the position of my coffee cup, apparently, because she knocked it over. Thankfully the lid was still on the cup, so it wasn't too much of the remainder that splashed out of the little oval orifice. But it got on my pants. At least it wasn't right on the tent.
"Come with me" she said firmly, and whipped the towel off her arm. I supposed she intended it for the stain, but I was going to use it to try and disguise the tent in my pants. If I'd had any reservations about following her, the wet stain erased them.
I got up and followed her. I did my best to make good use of the towel. Fortunately there was only one other customer. The morning rush was over. I followed her, my eyes down, because that makes you invisible right?
Well, her black high heels were not invisible, I can tell you that. I blinked and my jaw dropped. Not only was she wearing glossy black high heels, I thought I saw fishnets! She reached back and grabbed my hand. To my surprise, she pulled me right past the bathrooms. What the hell was going on here?
She pulled me into a door I'd never noticed, and locked it behind us. We were in an office, a little more spacious than I'd have expected. It even had a couch. She pushed me backwards and I found myself sitting on the couch.
"This is a workplace -- you know that, right?" Where the hell was this going?