Annabelle. I hadn't met another Annabelle in my life. I'd heard of them in books or the movies or TV, sure, but never met one. This Annabelle was one of the office girls at my job. We work for a smallish tech company in the R&D department. I am one of the lead designers, a redneck among the tech elite. I've been working there for the last several years. I was doing the long distance thing with a girl from college. We'd see one another every several weeks, but I was doing my dream job, and she was one promotion from hers. Neither of us seemed willing to go to the other. Sure it put stress on our relationship, but well... Nothing better had come along for either of us.
Annabelle, or Anna as I'd taken to calling her, was several years younger than me. She had long black hair and lips that belonged in a Maybellene ad. She was tallish, 5'9" or so, a few inches shorter than I was, and it only helped to accentuate her legs. She kept in shape, but her impressive breasts (DD's at least) likely made that a tricky proposition.
We'd flirted around work quite a bit. I was known as the harmless flirty guy, what with my girlfriend Jodi and all. She had a boyfriend named Tom. We'd become pretty good friends over the years, going out for drinks from time to time, chatting when we could, I'd even accompanied her and Tom to a movie or two.
At the office work was work, but we always found time to flirt. Sometimes she'd pinch my butt as she walked by. It took me a while to reciprocate, mainly because I didn't want to seem creepy. One day as I walked by, I mimed grabbing a hand full while I looked her in the eye. She stuck her ass out so I couldn't miss and I got a hand full of khaki covered ass. Occasionally she'd come over for a hug and I'd oblige, of course. She was easily the girl all the guys pined for. I saw her flirt with the other guys, but she never played grab ass like she did with me. Every time the thought of replacing my otherwise absent girlfriend with her crossed my mind, I thought of Tom and how he'd won her heart. I just wanted her to be happy, so I had no intention of ruining our bizarre, if a bit frustrating friendship.
Everything changed last Friday. "What's wrong, Ann?" I asked. For some reason I could never use her full name.
I'd walked into the break room as she'd finished a conversation with Rikki, one of the other girls in the office. She looked a little upset, and was just sitting staring into her coffee.
She fixed me with a beautiful smile. "Hey handsome." She took a sip from her steaming mug.
I sat down next to her after pouring a cup. "Hey yourself. You ok? You just look a little off this morning."
"Mmm Hmm." She started. "Tom and I have been a little off these last few months."
I'd noticed her flirting with me had increased over the last few months, but my relationship with Jodi had been more frustrating than normal so I was thinking it was just me hoping too much.
"What's up?" I stirred sugar into my coffee with one of the little stirrer things in the center of the table.
"You know he got that promotion, right?" I nodded. "Well, that's meant he's been traveling more than ever."
"Ahh," I said, taking a sip of the hot beverage.
"He's been working so hard lately that he's put us on the back burner." She fixed my eyes with hers. "It's frustrating for a girl, a young girl like me, to feel like an old married couple." She looked down and shook her head. "You don't need to hear that kind of stuff."
In my head I was thinking, ' Oh god, I so do need to hear that kind of stuff '. But I needed to be strong...ish.
"Relationships can be hard." I said, trying to sound worldly. "You guys were so great when things started off. I bet he just doesn't realize what he's doing to you." I took another sip of coffee. "You need to have a honest talk with Tom, though. See how how sees things and let him know what you are thinking. If he loves you, he'll do what needs to be done."
"You always know what I need to hear." She walked over to my side of the table, I stood and we hugged a long hug. "I'll talk to him tonight. If things don't workout, I may just have to fight Jodi for you." She quickly kissed me on the cheek and nearly ran off.
I worked the rest of the day in a fuzz. I had come to the realization that my relationship with Jodi was a joke, and I'd be in a better place if I followed my own advice. Then my phone buzzed with an E-mail. I checked it, and apparently Jodi had been listening in to my thoughts because her email was short on emotion and long on goodbyes. With teary eyes, I typed a quick reply, agreeing with her assessment of the situation, hit send and clocked out of work, headed for the liquor store.
The spring rain here in Colorado can be a bummer, especially when you aren't feeling very good to start with. I was sitting on a rocker in my screened in porch, nursing a tall and quite strong mojito. The rain had brought that clean smell from the earth and Pandora was feeding my emotions a steady dose of Massive Attack inspired Trip-hop. My German shepard, Luna sat at my feet, keeping them warm. She didn't understand the complex interplay between humans, but she was a great dog that knew I was down, so she was keeping extra close.
Luna's head came up, brushing against my leg, pulling me from my daze. I opened my eyes and looked to my driveway. Several hours had passed, apparently. It was night now, and a familiar Lexus had pulled into my drive. It sat there for several seconds before a woman unfolded from inside and walked slowly across the lawn. Her long hair was wet through and the black Columbia rain jacket was not doing so well in keeping her dry.
I stood and opened the screen door for her. Annabelle had obviously been crying. Her eyes were red and she opened her arms to me as she approached, rain dripping down her hair and onto her jacket. We hugged for a long time. Her hair still smelled like the coconut shampoo she always used. I never realized how much it made me think of her until I was there with her. I drank it in, my head swimming with rum, emotion, and the warmth of her wet body.
I took her hand in mine and walked her into the house. I sat her in a chair in the kitchen and disappeared up stairs. Several minutes later I returned with my arms full. I balanced it into one arm and extended my hand. I walked her to the spare bathroom and placed the things onto the sink.
"Here's towels and some clothes. I"ll make us something."
I heard the water running. My head was still swimming. I managed to get it together enough to make some impressive looking Bananas Foster just in time for her to be done.
She'd used Jodi's hair dryer I'd included and slipped on a pair of workout pants and an old shirt of mine. She was beautiful. I absolutely loved women without makeup. Makeup to me was for special occasions, but even then I kind of preferred without.
"Thanks," she managed. "I must have looked like a hot mess."
I smiled my flirty smile. "Hot, yes. Mess? No." I gestured to a chair at my small kitchen table. There was a waiting bowl of Bananas foster and a cup of black coffee with too much sugar, just like I know she likes.
