Individually her classes, work and personal life were each manageable. But forces seemed to be conspiring against her in recent weeks to drive her crazy.
The personal life was, sadly, suffering the most. Sarah had been single for a few months, but had found little opportunity to get back on the horse as far as men were concerned. She'd had a date or two, a few prospects, but nothing that had led to anything beyond some heavy kissing.
The 22 year old was in her final year of university. While her scholarship paid for tuition and books, she had taken a job doing administrative work for one of the research labs on campus to make some extra fun money. The trouble was, between working and studying, she didn't have a whole lot of Time for fun.
Sarah brushed an errant strand of her shoulder length blonde hair back from her face and tried to tuck it back into her bun as she strode across campus. She worked hard to dress professionally, trying to counterbalance the fact that she was the youngest person in the office and had a lip piercing. While academic labs do tend to be easier going about personal expression, Sarah still felt a need to be taken seriously and not just thought of as some punk kid.
The biggest obstacle to her professionalism was Tom. He was a graduate student, somewhere in his mid-to-late 20s, and somehow made Sarah really nervous. She could easily talk to anyone else in the office or lab, but she got tongue tied around Tom. He was always nice towards her, smiling and saying hello, but Sarah always found an excuse to scurry away and avoid being in the same room with him, especially alone. She was smart enough to realize she was attracted to the slightly older guy, and considering how little action she'd gotten in the past month her body was hungry for a new man in her life. Still, she didn't want the complications that could arise from an office romance, especially a month into her job.
Her avoidance plan was thwarted when their boss had asked Sarah to help put together a large research grant renewal. While Sarah didn't really understand nor really care to comprehend the science involved, she was good at figuring out the details of the complex formatting instructions the granting agency insisted on that the boss was too busy to read.
The first couple afternoons had gone smoothly enough. The boss gave Sarah pages to format, which Sarah added to the growing document. It required both hard copies and electronic versions, and Sarah ended up taking over most of the office's shared computer room.
Tom seemed to find an excuse to pop by several times a day, saying hi and asking Sarah how things were going. Sarah fought her urge to flee, but avoided standing too close to him. He was tall, over six feet and towered over her petite five-foot frame. His longish dark blonde hair flopped carelessly around his face, and his hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with promised mischief. Sarah couldn't help but find his sweet looking, somewhat boyish face charming.
As the deadline approached, the boss decided that Tom should add a section to the grant. This decision was made right before the boss left town for a week, with plans to return just before the grant was due. This meant Sarah and Tom would be working closely together to get his section in order on time.
It was a Thursday, and the boss was coming back on Monday, expecting to see a final draft. Sarah had a test that morning and hadn't really had time to dress for work. She decided to head home and take a shower and change before work.
Sarah stripped her jeans and t-shirt off and grabbed a towel before stepping into the shower. Noticing light stubble on her legs, she decided to touch up shaving them, and do the rest of her while she was at it. Sarah had fully shaved her pussy from the day she started growing hair and shaving her armpits. She'd always just preferred it, and since the guys she'd been with reacted so positively to her shaved pussy she had kept doing it.
"Not that it has seen much action lately," she bemoaned to herself. She briefly considered getting herself off in the shower, but decided that delaying going into work any longer would just mean she'd have to stay that much later. She turned off the water and quickly toweled off.
Sarah first put on her bra, her favorite black one. It lifted her breasts nicely, but she chose it more for comfort. She then slid on a tiny black thong. Sarah knew it was sexy, but her reasons for choosing it were much more pedestrian: it was clean underwear, and she hated panty lines under her skirt.
Sarah also hated pantyhose, but felt that covered legs looked more professional. She slipped on a pair of thigh high stockings. Noting that the top of one of them wasn't holding up well and not wanting to change, she grabbed a lacy garter belt and put it on. "How functional," she mused to herself, recalling the night she'd worn it for her ex-boyfriend to look sexy.
Sarah glanced at herself in the mirror and realized she was looking more like a sex bomb than a professional office worker. She slid on her knee length gray skirt and buttoned up her white work blouse. She did her hair up in a bun and put on her glasses after a light touching up of make-up. Satisfied, she went to the office.
It was after 5 o'clock, and no one was around, except Tom. He smiled at her when she arrived, and they got to work. For several hours it was all business, but eventually she heard his stomach growl, and Sarah realized that she also was hungry.
"Want to get a pizza?" Tom asked her.
"Hells yeah!" Sarah replied.
He made the call and they kept working, casting little glances at each other. When the food arrived they took a break and made small talk. At Times Sarah thought he was flirting with her, but she was never quite sure. Too soon they were done eating, and it was back to work.
Two hours later, Tom exclaimed, "Finally! I think we're done!"
"Woot!" Sarah responded, being glad to have finished the work.
"God, you have a great smile," Tom told her. Sarah was taken aback and felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, you probably don't need me telling you how pretty you are," Tom stammered.
"No, it's ok," Sarah responded, feeling instant empathy. "Really, I appreciate the compliment. I haven't gotten a lot of them lately."
"Really?" Tom asked, looking shocked. "I'd have figured a hot girl like you had all kinds of guys after you."
Sarah blushed again. "Well, this "hot girl's" ex-boyfriend wasn't very good at giving me compliments, and I've been a little busy since then. Do you think your girlfriend would be bothered to hear you complimenting me?" Sarah challenged.
"I don't think my EX-girlfriend has any say in the matter," he replied.
"Sorry to hear that," Sarah said.
