(Author's Note: Many thanks for everyone reading my stories. Pt 3 of Chloe's Introduction is on its way but this story came to me in something like fever dream after a few intense chats at Emily's, and i felt compelled to put it into words. I hope you all enjoy it. Many thanks to PixieHoff for taking the time to review and her inspiration and encouragement!).
The Italian restaurant Sasha's bosses had booked for them was an out-of-the-way kind of place which thrived purely on its reputation. The food was excellent, and the wine was very expensive, and Sasha's bosses were picking up the tab for a job well done.
It was the end of the meal and people were swapping seats and mingling, chatting over drinks, and laughing at little office in-jokes. Sash joined along as best she could, being the middle manager in the department and the lynchpin between the higher-ups and her own team, but she found it difficult to concentrate because of one person in the room being constantly on her radar.
Jules Danvers was a radiant woman with short dark brown hair, the sort of person who makes you lose focus on everything else in the room. Now she was stood by the bar, talking to two of Sasha's bosses, Brad, and Len. She was wearing a black, sleeveless dress which ended above the knee, showing off her legs nicely, and every now and then her eyes flickered in Sasha's direction. Or at least that's what she told herself. It might have been the wine convincing her.
One of Sasha's team, Steve, made a ribald comment so Sash turned and pretended to chastise him, much to the amusement of her team. She had developed a good relationship with them and there was a decent atmosphere of familiarity between them, underscored by a lot of respect for the way she looked after them.
She couldn't stop thinking about Jules though.
It had been over five years since they first met, on a work's training course. It was at a remote location in a hotel, and they and twelve other trainees were staying there for a week. It hadn't taken long for Jules and Sasha to hit it off, and by the last night of the course they were in bed together. Sash smiled to herself at the memory -- that sounded so quaint to what really happened. She looked over at Jules, watched as she smiled, laughed heartily at some silly comment.
"Excuse me guys, I'm just popping out...for some fresh air", Sasha said, standing and going to the cigarette machine, using her bank card to get a small pack.
She pulled on her leather coat and went outside, and round the corner, out of the sight of the large picture window at the front of the restaurant. Standing at the mouth of an alleyway, she lit a cigarette and took a long slow drag.
Jules and Sasha had enjoyed a very hot relationship- surface of the Sun hot. Jules was submissive, Sasha liked to be in control and the pair meshed together perfectly. But one day, she just.... left. Jules got a promotion which meant moving to another city, and then the pandemic hit, and both got used to the other not being around. It had been three years since Sasha had set eyes on Jules. Sasha had many relationships, one or two even managed to make her stop comparing to Jules, but they never lasted. When she saw a company-wide email congratulating Jules on her wedding, Sasha suddenly realised that somewhere in the back of her mind she'd been waiting for Jules to come running back to her. How foolish she felt, then. What a fool she'd been, she thought bitterly.
So here she was, now, a director no less, come to oversee the start-up of a new partnership. Something Sasha and her team had been heavily involved in, putting in long hours to see it through, but Jules had not said a word to her except when in the company of others, keeping away from her office and in the orbit of her bosses.
Sasha exhaled a thin plume of smoke. To hell with her, she thought. If she meant nothing to Jules, then she could feel the same way.
Except she couldn't, could she.
"Got a spare?"
Sasha turned to find Jules standing on the corner, her long black coat covering her dress.
"I thought you'd quit", said Sasha, a bit sullenly, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"I could say the same," Jules replied.
"I had...it's just.... tonight's been...."
Jules took a cigarette from Sasha and leaned her head to allow her to light it for her.
"Congratulations on the promotion, Sash darling", smiled Jules.
"Thanks...as it happens, I'd been doing the job since the beginning of the year, but it's nice they've finally formally accepted it and paying me appropriately."
She watched Jules' perfect lips purse around the butt of the cigarette as she inhaled its smoke, blowing out a thin plume into the air.
"Well, I always knew you'd -"
"What the hell, Jules." Sasha suddenly exclaimed, startling Jules for a second.
"Excuse me?"
Sasha sighed deeply.
"Are you really doing this? Office small talk? Treating me like we'd just met?"
Jules stared at her, then cast her eyes to the floor, taking a drag.
"You've come down here and commandeered this project, my guys have worked tirelessly on this, and you've treated us like lepers the whole time you've been here. And that's the royal us because we both know I'm the one you don't give a shit about."
"Sash...please, let me-"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you got married. Mrs Danvers. But even so, Jules. Are you that.... are you that embarrassed by me? By us?"
"NO!" Jules burst out.
"Firstly, I didn't' know you were here. The stupid organisation chart hadn't been updated since forever and was still showing Simon....whatshisface, the guy who retired, I finally learned. So yes, it was a shock to see my ex running the project management team.
"And, well, finding you here, seeing you, here, it awakened old memories. And you're not a leper, Sasha, you're a bloody Siren. So yes...I've kept my distance. I'm married, happily so. Honestly. Truly. She is the love of my life. And yet, I've had to keep my distance from you."
"How's that worked out for you," Sasha ruefully asked, reflecting on her own failure in that regard.
"Well join the fucking dots, Sash. I'm a married, happily married, woman and I've been avoiding my hot ex for the past fortnight. And yet here I am. Now. Talking to you. So how the fuck do you think it's going!"
Jules took an angry drag on her cigarette, expelling the smoke swiftly, then took another breath to calm down."
"So, tell me Sash, have you thought about me at all."
"Hardly gave you a second's thought. Until you turned up in the boardroom last week and now, you're all I've thought about", Sash admitted.
