"Hey Jack! Come over here, there's someone here I think you'd like to meet." Greg called to his friend.
Jack looked up and found Greg. He was standing at the keg, and standing next to him was the brunette from the office.
She was about 5'5", had brown hair, devastatingly beautiful blue eyes, a smile that would make a man of stone turn to jelly, perfect breasts - slightly over a handful each, Jack has once estimated - and a flat athletic belly above an ass and legs in perfect proportion to her chest. In short, she was a living goddess if there was one. She was wearing a back-less white top that tied behind her neck and around her waist, a black pleated skirt that was short enough to show off her athletic legs, yet long enough to be considered acceptable at a public, corporate function. She was on the set-up committee for this function and she still managed to look incredible.
Jack could feel his face getting red. He'd made the mistake of letting Greg know that he'd wanted to meet her for a long time. He brushed back his bangs nervously as he arrived at the keg.
"Hi, I'm Jack. I work in the warehouse.β he said, extending his hand to the brunette.
The brunette grasped it in a surprisingly firm handshake. "Hi, I'm Joy, from Accounts Payable. Itβs nice to meet you, Jack. You drive the big forklift, right?" she asked. Her voice was just as breathtaking as her looks were. A singerβs voice, he guessed, probably capable of both soprano and alto range.
"Yeah, that's right. We call it 'Godzilla', the middle one is 'King Kong' and the little one is 'The Baby'." Jack said.
"Oh, that is cute. I suppose it's more fun to use names than to say, 'You take the big one.' huh?" Joy said, genuinely interested.
"That was the idea. You should see the looks I get from the truckers when I say something like, 'O.K. I'll just go get Godzilla and we'll bring that right out to you.'" Jack said. He was beginning to loosen up a little now. She laughed. She had a beautiful laugh, too. "The trucker will come back with, 'You'll do what with who?' or something similar. It's almost comic sometimes." Jack said. "Next up is Joy. She'll be doing 'What a Feeling' by Irene Cara." came over the loudspeaker.
"Oh, that's me. Will you hold this for me, Jack? I'll be right back. Thanks." Joy asked as she handed him her beer.
He watched her go to the stage and step up to the microphone. It was immediately obvious that she was a karaoke veteran. He watched silently for a few moments as her song cued up on the monitor. He noticed that she didn't need the monitor. Greg tapped him on the shoulder.
"Earth to Jack. Dude, where the hell did you go just now?" Greg asked, smirking knowingly.
"Man, I think I'm in love. Please tell me she's single. I've never seen any rings on her hands." Jack said to Greg.
"Well, I can tell you that she isn't married. Available, I don't know but I'm pretty sure that she is indeed." Greg answered.
Just as Jack was about to speak, Joy started to sing. He found that his estimation of her range was pretty close.
"God Greg, would you listen to that? Is that not the voice of an angel? The girl is good!" Jack exclaimed. They listened to the rest of the song in silence. Occasionally Joy would look over their way and make eye contact with Jack and smile. He could feel it in his gut every time she did.
The crowd cheered and chanted as Joy made her way back to them at the end of the song. She took her beer from Jack and got up on her tiptoes next to his ear. He thought she was going to say something, but she just kissed his cheek. His knees nearly buckled, but he managed to stay on his feet. "What was that for?" Jack asked her.
"I believe you asked Greg, 'Is that not the voice of an angel?' I take that as a compliment. That was a thank you kiss." Joy explained, her smile beaming.
"You were on stage, 30 feet away. How did...β Jack asked.
"I think I'll take this as my cue to leave. Late dude." Greg said and departed before Jack, who was still wrestling with is question, could respond.
"Bye Greg. See you tomorrow." Joy said to Greg. She turned back to Jack; "I can read lips. It comes in pretty handy with office gossip,β she said, looking him in the eye as she took a sip of her beer.
"Office gossip, huh? So I suppose you're aware..." Jack said. He was starting to grow uncomfortable again.
"That you've been asking about me? Yes, I am. I've known for quite awhile, actually. I just haven't been free to explore my options until recently. Don't be embarrassed, please." She said, placing her hand on his thigh. She continued, "I would have said something to you sooner, but I've been dating someone for two years. Last month he told me that he was being transferred to a station in Iceland. It was short notice, long term, and unaccompanied. We decided it would probably be better just to break things off. I've been trying to get used to being single since then, and I think I'm finally getting it down. Anyway, I was flattered when I found out about you, but I didn't know how to approach you. So I decided to ask Greg to help. He didn't even answer me; he just turned around and called you over. I think I'm glad he did. Do you want another beer?" Joy asked, taking his empty beer glass from him before he answered.
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. They ended up being two of the last three people to leave. "Jack, I think I have a problem here." Joy said with a strange look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"I think," Joy said as she tried to stand up, "No, I know I'm too drunk to drive. I can't even stand up for Christ's sake. How did you get here?" she asked. "I rode my bike." he said.
"You rode a bike to the corporate 4th of July bash?" she asked. Her drunkenness was becoming more pronounced.
"Well, not just a bike. It's a Honda CBR 900." Jack said.
"Oh, so you rode a rocket to the corporate 4th of July bash, how appropriate. Well, then I guess we'll just have to take my car. Are you O.K. to drive?" she asked as she took the keys out of her purse.