I woke up with that usual sense of dread I get on these weekends. I sighed deeply as I threw my feet out of bed and dragged myself out to the kitchen to make a coffee.
It was time for the biannual bridal expo and I just hated it. I entered the world of dress making so I could create gorgeous gowns for brides on their one special day, not to stand on my feet for a whole weekend dealing with hordes of emotional and high maintenance women, their pushy mothers and their jealous sisters and best friends. These days always left me so exhausted that I was looking forward to my self -assigned day off on Monday. I was dreaming of the beach if the weather was good, or the cinema if it wasn't. It just seemed so far away from this side of the weekend.
I work as a private contractor for a much larger bridal business. It's really nice to be a part of something bigger. I've never felt stranded and I get a huge amount of support from the business. I couldn't have afforded a large and prominent shop on one of the cities main roads and I certainly couldn't have afforded paying for my own stand at the expo, which brings in a lot of my business, despite my complaints.
The best part about expo was the socializing. It was great to meet other people in the industry, mostly older women and a lot of gay men, and we often end up heading to the nearest bar at the end of each night to debrief each other and drink away the pains in our legs. Meeting our wholesalers and competitors, putting names to faces, it's great.
The other great part is our accountant, Roberto. We don't see him that often as he isn't really part of our day to day business, but when it comes to auditing and expos, he's there. I liked him from the first moment we were introduced. He's not traditionally handsome, but there's something about him that I just find irresistible. For a start, he's tall. He's got at least a foot on me, which is nice. He's not at all overweight, but he has a bit of belly and every time I see him, I want him to wrap his arms around me and pull me into his broad chest. And I haven't even gotten to the face yet! Roberto is half Brazilian, half Polish. While his skin his pale, his features are dark. His eyes are bright hazel, he's quick to smile and his eyes light up whenever he does. His dark brown hair and beard has flecks of grey through out, despite being just over 30, and coupled with his mature accountant attitude, it gives the impression of someone much older. That boyish, easy smile is the only giveaway.
Roberto and I always flirt shamelessly with one another, and while I haven't seen him interact with another woman our age, I'm sure I'm not the only one. I just wish that I were. I know that I'm not the only person in the business who looks forward to his monthly visits and not the only one who checks their roster to make sure they're working, or makes an excuse to come by the shop even if they aren't. What I do know is that I am the only person Roberto spends far too much time talking to, because we're always the two left working late at the end of each one of his audits.
Despite months of flirting, we're never touched, never been alone together and never said anything remotely sexual to one another at all. On my drive to the expo, I decided that all of that, all of it, was going to change and all with in the next few hours.
Walking through the huge exhibition hall, it didn't take me long to find my stall. I was in a great location off to the side of the hall but right near the honeymoon specialist travel agency. The back drop was huge, the pictures were an overwater bungalow with stilts in crystal blue waters, a white sandy beach with palms trees swaying in the breeze and two gorgeous newlyweds kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower. What a tease. I could see myself there. In fact, I could just about feel the soft, powdery sand warming my skin; I could hear the quiet ruffle of the palm trees in the tropical wind; I could hear Roberto's voice calling me back in to bed...
Jesus, Olivia! I scolded myself. I really had to focus on my work while I was at my stand, I couldn't let my mind wander to Roberto. I dumped my bag behind the small table and looked around the hall. I wasn't too far from the customer payments booth either, I could see it from the left side of my stand, which would be extremely convenient. And inconvenient, since Roberto would be at the booth all weekend. Well, these things are sent to try us, are they not?
As I set up my little stall with sample dresses, a small changing room, materials, sketches, measuring tapes and everything else I could possibly need, I glanced around the hall. There were other independent dressmakers here and I couldn't help but compare myself to them. Everywhere I looked was a sea of white. Mine was the only stall with coloured dresses. That made me unique here, and could either work to my advantage as being a great alternative dress designer, or to my disadvantage. Heaven knows so many brides get pressured into wearing white rather than what they actually want to wear.
I was scrutinizing the dresses of a mass producer of gowns when a voice startled me.
"Hey!"
I looked around and standing at my table was a man I hadn't met before. He was smiling widely as I walked over to him.
"Uh, hey you."
"I'm Bryce, I work for these guys." Bryce extended his right hand while gesturing over to the travel agency with his left.
"I'm Olivia. I work for this guy." I pointed at myself before I shook his hand. "Total slave driver."
I took stock of Bryce as he laughed. He was about my height, with a slender frame. By the look of his forearms, he was pretty muscular under his loose fitting polo shirt. His hair was silver-grey, but he couldn't have even reached 40 yet. Small crows feet crinkled in the corners of his brown eyes when he smiled. His face was framed beautifully by his well-defined and clean-shaven jaw. All in all, I wasn't entirely disappointed that I would be looking at him all day.
"Well, look, if you're a bit quiet during the day, pop over and say hi, ok? Maybe I could hook you up with one of these places?" Bryce pointed at the picture of the overwater bungalow.
"You'd better hope that I'm not quiet, otherwise I won't ever be able to afford that!" I joked. Bryce waved as he walked over to his stall.
I headed back to my samples to get them sorted before the doors opened. I looked over my rack of dresses to the payments booth to see if Roberto had arrived yet. He hadn't just arrived, he was staring right at me. Thank god he wasn't standing anywhere near me. He would have heard my breathing falter and he would have seen my knees buckle just that little bit. He smiled as he came out from around the booth and made his way over to me. I finished hanging the last sample dress and adjusted the coat hangers, breathing deeply and telling myself to calm down. I exhaled my final deep breath with a sigh just as Roberto reached me.
"Are you sick of me already?" Roberto was leaning in close to me.
I looked up at him through my lashes. "Impossible."
Roberto gave a small self-satisfied chuckle. "We'll see. Can I get you a coffee?"
"Please! Let me grab some money."
"No no, it's on me. You can pay me back tomorrow morning." Roberto winked at me as he walked off.
My heart was in my throat and it was beating like crazy. It seemed insane to me that such a small and insignificant exchange could have me so shaken up. Pay Roberto back tomorrow morning...I played these words over and over in my head. I knew he meant the second day of the expo, but I couldn't help imagining bringing him coffee in bed.
I couldn't help but hum tunelessly and smile to myself as I let the image of a naked Roberto lying in my bed drift through my mind. I busied myself setting out album upon album of brides in my dresses, easy work to do while my mind was otherwise busy, when a takeaway mug of coffee wrapped in a large hand rested on my table.
"My saviour! Thank you so much." I gushed, reaching out to take the coffee from Roberto. He didn't remove his hand as I took the cup in my own and our fingers intertwined.
I was lost for words. I looked wide-eyed up at Roberto, waiting for him to speak.
"Will you come and visit me during the day?" Roberto asked, hope evident in his tone.
A lump was caught in my throat; there was no way I would be able to get words out.
"Uh huh." I responded dumbly.
Roberto softly brushed his thumb over the back of my hand before he turned and walked back to his booth. I couldn't take my eyes off him as he walked, his gait confident. As he reached his desk, he turned back to me and smiled before getting on with his work.
I looked down at my phone. The doors were going to open in 5 minutes and I hadn't finished everything I had to do. Roberto had taken up enough of my attention for now, and it was time to crack on with the business end of the day.
The hall was flooded with people as soon as the doors opened and I was busy from the get go. Not just busy; I had people lining up to see me. It was thrilling and I was rushed off my feet until about the early afternoon when the crowd died down. Rushed off my feet with enquiries, and not one sale until I was approached by a mother and daughter who were the first people I had spoken to all day who knew what the bride wanted. After sitting down together and completing some sketches, she was ready to put down her deposit. I took down her credit card details, and after a thousand "thank you's" from both sides, mother and daughter were off home.
I took a breath, steadied myself and made my way to Roberto, trying to walk as gracefully as I could manage after having been on my feet all day. I slipped around to his side of the booth and stood next to him.
"You got one!" Roberto smiled.
"I finally got one, yes. Mind if I put this through?" I asked, already leaning across him to reach the credit card machine and resting my elbows on the desk.
"Not at all." Roberto's voice was quiet as he gently placed his hand on my lower back, over the material of my shirt.
An electric tingle spread from his touch to my ass and down the backs of my thighs. I stopped what I was doing, unable to focus on anything but the present moment and completely unwilling to break it.
"Don't you want that sale?" Roberto said playfully as he lifted my top from the waistband of my skirt and let his fingers play over my skin.
My heart thrummed away in my chest, and I don't exactly know when I stopped breathing. I refocused my mind and finished charging the credit card. I didn't want to move because I didn't want Roberto to stop touching me.
