Sunrise

Chapter 1

Working for yourself can be great. Working from home can be great. I'd been doing both for about two years, running the modestly successful William Milburn Consulting. It's a one-man show.

Working for yourself is one thing. Working by yourself, though? Not as great. Aside from calls and meetings with clients, it was just me and my laptop. I was definitely a "working for the weekend" guy -- dinner and drinks with friends, playing in a tennis league, your typical chores/errands and other time-killers were desperately needed to interrupt the solitude of my weekdays. I did manage the occasional date (thanks, Tinder!) but wasn't really looking for anything serious. I managed to get laid often enough to keep me happy but never pursued anyone much beyond friends-with-benefits.

Still, I needed something to break up my work days so that I didn't feel like the walls were slowly closing in on me through the week - no one I knew would've predicted that I'd become jealous of folks working in cubicle farms with all of their cozy social interactions. I'd been complaining about this with a friend. He thought working outside in the park might be a good fit for me, but I know myself well enough that I'd be distracted by people walking their dogs and the kids making a racket on the playground equipment -- not to mention the yummy mummies with their asses packed tightly in their Lululemon. Plus the temperature was starting to drop, so it would've been a fair-weather solution at best.

Then it dawned on me: why not try my hand at being a coffee shop guy? The kind of guy that orders the cheapest menu item and nurses it while working on their screenplay or Great American Novel. I could do that and still be productive, right?

Flash-forward a few weeks and I've settled into a nice little groove: work at home for the morning, make myself some lunch and then head out to Sunrise Coffee for a change of scenery for a couple of hours. It was typically quiet enough that I could work without much distraction, and I started to recognize some of the regulars. I quickly picked up a habit of checking out just about every woman who walked into the shop. Since I tended to sit near the back of the store, anyone placing an order at the counter was facing away from me, and I ended up spending a good amount of time gazing at some fine-looking asses. (Hey, remember when I said that asses would be a distraction and that's why I couldn't work in the park? Yeah.)

Like every guy who thinks they're getting away with their sneaky glances, I didn't think I was in danger of getting caught looking. But boy, did my luck ever run out, lemme tell ya! I got caught big-time on one occasion, and I'm glad that I did.

It was a Thursday -- a woman had come into the shop who immediately caught my eye. I'm guessing that she was a first-time customer, as she stood just inside the door and took a minute to look around before heading up to the counter. Our eyes briefly flashed upon each other, and I looked away as fast as my reflexes would allow. Didn't want to be caught creeping on her, of course. But I totally had been. I mean, how couldn't I? She was fucking hot. Hair just past shoulder-length, dyed blonde but with some of her natural darker colour peeking through (in that cool "sloppy dye-job" sort of way that some girls do when they want to show that they're the edgy type). Soft yet defined facial features and sharp blue eyes highlighted with a hint of mascara. Not to mention a compact and fit body, topping out around 5'5" or so.... right up my alley.

But it was what she was wearing that really sealed it for me. A little trashy, but still put-together: a worn-looking sweater that was sloppily cut to leave just a little of her belly showing. A rather short floral-patterned skirt. Pristine skate shoes. A silver bangle on her right wrist and a small vinyl purse completed the look -- a look that definitely was working for her (and me).

I was working hard to focus on my laptop, but could see in my periphery that she'd moved to the counter to place her order and had her back to me. I was in the clear to take a look at the ass that was packed into that skirt. Well, I guess I was a little longer than I should've been in taking in the view and lost myself in the moment. She turned away from the counter, coffee and muffin in hand, and immediately locked onto my gaze... I was completely busted, and she wanted me to know it. She stared me down for a second, gave me a little smirk and walked off to find a seat. I felt awkward for having been caught, but what are you gonna do?

Chastened, I diligently kept my eyes glued to my screen as she took a seat in one of the cozy-looking overstuffed chairs in the corner of the shop. I kept working as best as I could but I couldn't resist for long. I figured out that if I angled my laptop a little that it should more-or-less block her view of my face, but allow me to see her if I peeked over the top of the screen. Happy with my somewhat-private setup, and seeing that her attention seemed to be on her phone, I got bolder and bolder and was taking increasingly longer looks at her. Her sweater wasn't exactly form-fitting so I just had to imagine what was underneath. I'd guess B-cups... and no bra?

Fantasies started forming in my mind. I pictured myself standing in front of her, her sweater bunching up over my hands as I slid my hands up from her hips and along her soft belly. My thumbs caressing the soft skin along the underside of her breasts. One hand moving back down to slide over her ass, the other moving up to engage a stiffened nipple. I moved in to kiss her neck.... I was starting to get a little hard as my imagination took over.

Snap back to reality, man. Probably best not to catch wood in public.

I managed to refocus myself and got back to work, keeping my eyes on my screen instead of my fantasy girl. Soon enough, nature (and two iced coffees) called and after asking the barista to keep an eye on my laptop, I made my way to the washroom at the back of the shop. When I headed back to my table I noticed that "my girl" was gone. Oh well -- our one-sided romance was fun while it lasted.

I worked for about another 45 minutes before deciding to head back home. I gathered up the power supply, my phone charger... and what should reveal itself as I picked up my laptop? A neatly folded napkin that had been tucked beneath. I put my laptop in my bag and sat back down to investigate. I unfolded the napkin. My heart skipped a beat. A message, crisply written:

It's OK to look at me... I like it.

I like to watch, too.

xoxo,

Kara

Chapter 2

Four Days Later

Now what? Am I supposed to do something? Wait for something to happen?

I hadn't returned to Sunrise Coffee -- my Friday schedule didn't allow for it, and although my curiosity was gnawing at me I figured that the weekend, with its parade of families charging in and out of the shop and general bump in foot traffic, wouldn't be a likely time for any surreptitious flirting. So, the weekend came and went. Nothing too special -- I frittered away my Friday night on Netflix, dinner and drinks with some friends and Saturday and a Sunday mix of errands, video games and a pretty solid nap.

Heading into Saturday's dinner I'd been itching to tell my friends about my encounter and the mysterious note but ultimately kept it to myself. There wasn't much to say (yet!) and thought I should see if/how this led anywhere. I'll tell you this though: I could not get this woman out of my mind and was desperate to know what her napkin note was for. Was she just messing around? It'd be awfully easy to troll someone who couldn't keep their eyes to themselves -- hell, maybe it was she who was having a night out with friends and having a good laugh over the rando perv from that coffee place on Arbor Street. It was taking a lot of mental effort to stop myself from getting too amped-up over this.

But now it was Monday. It was late morning when I decided to head down to Sunrise -- a little earlier than when I would typically make my way over but I'd been pretty patient with myself so far. I'd reward myself with an extra hour or two of silently hoping that Kara would make an appearance. So there I sat in my usual spot, working away on my laptop and watching the trickle of patrons coming through the doors. Soccer mom, man in a safety vest, a visibly harried high school student, two cute old ladies, soccer mom, delivery guy, etcetera. And eventually, my patience rewarded, Kara.

She looked amazing, again: jeans instead of a skirt today, and a tucked-in plain white tee instead of the baggy sweater. No purse, but a stylish messenger bag. It was a bit of a reversal of what she had been wearing on Thursday: the jeans hid her creamy legs, but the tee hugged her upper body beautifully. My earlier guess of B-cup tits looked to be accurate, and she was almost certainly wearing a bra -- her t-shirt looked to be tight enough that you'd be able to see her nipples poking through the fabric if she weren't wearing one.

Isn't it amazing how many assessments a guy can make about a girl's appearance with a three-second leer? But I didn't have to stop at three seconds. Let's remember: this is a girl who told me that she likes to be looked at. I continued drinking her in as she walked to the counter, my eyes locked brazenly on her. She must know that I was watching her, but made no sign of it. Her eyes were locked on her phone for the few minutes it took for her coffee and muffin to come up.

And when she sat down at the table in front of me, my heart began racing.

Kara got herself all set up, finishing by pulling a laptop from her messenger bag. She stood to plug her charger into the plug behind her chair, bending deeply while she did so -- no way she wasn't showing off her ass to me, right? She had to be. The way she moved suggested the trope of the sexy secretary cooing "oops, I've dropped my pen." Once again seated (and my eyes still burning a hole in her), she went back to playing on her phone... and continued tormenting me by purposefully avoiding even the slightest glance in my direction. I forced myself to look back to my screen and half-heartedly tapped away at the proposal I was in the midst of writing.

But my blood felt like it was boiling. Not knowing what to do (or if anything was about to be done to me!) was the worst torture. How long did I manage to keep working for? 10 minutes? 1 minute? Time didn't seem to be passing, knowing that she was

right there

with the mystery of her napkin note hanging over us. I caved and looked towards her. Her laptop was open now. She'd decorated it with a handful of cute little stickers: a little cartoon rainbow, Spongebob's Patrick with a stunned look on his face, hand-drawn lettering reading "Stay Focused" (ironic, given the situation) and so on.

And she was looking right back at me with a little smirk, as if she'd been waiting for me to finally give in. Her eyes were blazing -- I think she was into this as much as I was. She hooked a finger around the side of her laptop, pointing it to a sticker affixed to the bottom corner. It had a QR code on it. I grabbed my phone, fired up the camera and zoomed in on the code. To the casual observer, it would have looked like I was taking a surreptitious photo of an unknowing girl... creepy behaviour, but I knew the true purpose and public appearances weren't going to stop me from finding out where that code led.

I gave her a little crooked smile as my phone processed the QR code and opened up a Telegram page. I knew that Telegram was built for chat, but didn't have it installed -- I took care of that quickly. With the app installed, I clicked the "Send a Message" link on her Telegram page and it sent me back to the app, ready to chat. Well, here we go...

Me: Finally :)

Kara: Finally? Four days ago, you didn't even know I existed lol

I looked up at her. She had a slight grin on her face, and mischief in her eyes.

Me: Hah, that's true. Well, that note you left me has been occupying my thoughts... feels like longer than four days.

Kara: Then it worked!

Me: It definitely did.

Kara: Your username -- Will. Is that your real name?

Me: It is.

Kara: So what do you think so far, Will?

Me: Think of what?

Kara: My body.

Damn. No fucking around!

Me: Tight. Just my type. Need to see more to give a real assessment though.

Kara: Haha :) I debated wearing a bra today. I don't always.

Me: So why did you?

Kara: Well, I was hoping I'd see you here, obviously. But if we're going to play this game, I thought maybe it'd be more fun not to show you what cards I'm holding quite yet. If you know what I mean.

Me: Game?

Kara: You started playing it last week. Y'know, when you began perving on me five seconds after I came through the door lol

Me: You busted me pretty fast.

I chuckled and gave Kara a smile.

Kara: I always like to take a look around and see if anyone's scoping me out. I like to be looked at.

Me: So you've said.

I obliged and looked up at her. Our eyes locked, demure half-smiles across our faces.

Kara: Wish I could get a better look at you though **blush**. I've only ever seen you sitting at that table heh

Me: That can be arranged. Because you like to watch, too... right, Kara?

I had quoted her napkin note back to her. I looked up and she was blushing furiously. Ha! Guess she was a little embarrassed to have her dirty words read back to her, and it was adorable. I stood up and stepped over to her table, standing so she could get a look at me. "Excuse me, would you mind watching my stuff while I use the washroom?"

"Not at all." Her voice... wow. Light and musical, with a little hint of breathiness. And that was only three words. I wondered what she sounded like when she was getting fucked. I headed to the men's, walking a little more slowly than I might usually have. I feel lucky that she was interested in looking at me at all -- I'm not a bad-looking guy, and I dress well enough, but I'd say that it's my charm and wit that's brought me my modest success with women. Once I got into the washroom, I realized that I didn't actually need to pee, so I just took an extra bit of time washing my hands and making sure my hair looked alright. It might've been tough to take a leak anyhow, given that my dick was starting to grow inside my chinos.

I took a look down -- the crotch of my pants was definitely a little fuller than usual, but I don't think you'd notice my partial tumescence unless you were looking for it. Would Kara be looking for it? I stepped out of the washroom and moved towards my table. Kara's eyes were locked on my crotch. I got to my table and stayed standing for a minute, pretending to look at something on my phone, all for Kara's benefit of course.

Kara spoke first. "I kept your stuff safe for you, as requested."

I looked at her. Her eyes were still laser-focused on my slight bulge. "I see that, thanks. Hope you didn't have to fight off too many people." She gave a little half-laugh (probably more than my corny joke deserved) and turned back to her laptop as I sat down.

Kara: Promising. Although I need to see more before I can give a real assessment :P

Me: That can be arranged.

Kara: Do tell.

Well, shit. I was doing OK with dirty, flirty chat but now I was at a loss. At least Kara had established that we were playing a game (her words!). Even though I had an idea of what the goal was, I wasn't sure whose turn it was to play... or what the rules were. I didn't want to seem submissive. Time to make sure the ball was in her court.

Me: Do you have Telegram on your phone, too?

Kara: yup

Me: Good. Then you can take a picture for me in the washroom after I leave.

And with that I packed up my gear, stood up and walked out without even a glance in Kara's direction. Ballsy? I think so. A bit of a douche move? Perhaps. Invigorating? Definitely. I felt a little like I'd given myself a power position. Let's hope it didn't backfire.

Back at home about 20 minutes later, I added the Telegram app to my laptop and logged into my shiny new account. Kara was in my chat history, but no new messages from her. Huh -- hope I didn't scare her off. I'd kinda been thinking that she'd dash into the Sunrise loo right after I left and take a picture of... what? I hadn't exactly been specific with her, but I think that "send nudes'' was implied.

There was still plenty of day left, and I

did

still have a job. I was still plenty worked-up about Kara, but at least the torture of not knowing what her napkin note was all about was behind me and I managed to get back to work.

Chapter 3

That Afternoon

I started wrapping things up around 4:30. I was a little behind where I wanted to be because of my earlier interlude with Kara at Sunrise, and it was a little earlier than my typical quitting time, but I just couldn't stay motivated. I'd catch up tomorrow -- not like the boss was gonna chew me out! I dropped down on the couch and jumped back into a Netflix doc about the history of the illegal drug trade in the South that I'd started over the weekend. Pretty interesting stuff, really. The doc goes all the way back to just before the start of WWI and continues on through --

My phone played an unfamiliar tone. I paused the movie, grabbed the phone from the side table and saw the banner at the top of the screen:

Telegram: Notification

My heart skipped a beat and I quickly unlocked the phone.

Kara: Here's that photo from the washroom....

A picture of a sink was attached. Funny girl.

Me: Everyone's a comedian.

Kara: lol

Me: I guess that's my fault for not being more specific hehe

Kara: Were you starting to wonder if I was going to get you the picture?

Me: TBH, yes. I was worried that I'd scared you off.

Kara: I was a little miffed that you peaced out of Sunrise so quickly. We were having fun! So I thought I'd keep you waiting for a bit. Make you sweat for a minute.

Me: Fair enough.

Message received. No power grabs allowed in this game -- just take your turn and wait for the other player to reciprocate.

Kara: I can take a better picture if you still want one...

Me: Please do.

Moments later, a new photo appeared -- a selfie taken in a mirror. There was a bank of lockers behind her... must be at the gym? She'd changed her outfit since our meet-up and was now wearing just a sports bra and lycra shorts. The bra hugged her tits, with a hint of nipple pushing against the fabric. A firm, flat tummy. And the shorts... goddamn. The photo was from the front, but I'd bet if I could see her from behind I'd find that the shorts barely covered her ass. Kara was tugging at the waistband, pulling the shorts up against her pussy to put a tantalizing camel toe on display for me. My cock was rock hard, and I began rubbing myself gently through my pants. I zoomed in on her pussy -- I fucking LOVE camel toes.

Me: Damn, girl.

Kara: I'm at the gym.

Me: I see the lockers. I'm jealous of any guy who gets to see you doing squats in those shorts.

Kara: Well you sure know how to flatter a girl, Romeo. But FYI it's a women's-only gym.

Me: I'm jealous of the women, then!

And then the photo was gone. Poof! Disappeared into the ether. WTF?

Me: Hey, your picture just disappeared!

Kara: Oh, realllly? How sad for you :P

Me: Where did it go??

Kara: Self-destructing photos. A fun Telegram feature lol

Me: Well that's just cruel.

Kara: lol

Me: I think you should send another one to replace it.

Kara: I thought you might say that :P

I didn't reply right away. I moved my hand over my cock again... I didn't have the picture to look at anymore, but my memory was working just fine and I was getting hard to the point that my pants were uncomfortable. I quickly unbuttoned and slid them and my boxer briefs off in one motion, leaving them in a heap at my ankles. My cock was fully-erect now, and I stroked it slowly.