Elena
I sighed as I pulled my Red BMW into a narrow parking space near the entrance to the Grand Hotel, pleased that I wouldn't have far to walk in heels. I hated these holiday parties, and Bessmer Insurance was famous (or infamous) for the most elaborate ones in town. Being one of the only women in my department, I would have to tolerate the catcalls and snide comments from the mostly male staff, particularly the idiots in sales. Gawd I hate those guys, I had half a mind to flirt with one of their pretty little straight wives and get my head between their legs in some dark corner, purely to get back at them. Just to irk them I dressed in a daring black cocktail dress, showing off my olive skinned legs and my cleavage, to tease them with what they could never, ever have.
As I opened the back door to the conference wing of the hotel, my ears were instantly assaulted by loud, poorly chosen music, no doubt all designed to get any woman there to gyrate their bodies all for the pleasure of male onlookers.
'I will make an appearance, say hello to the executive team and get the hell out of here inside of the hour'
, I thought to myself. Did I mention how much I hated these things?
I sauntered slowly in the direction of the music, knowing the entrance that I had chosen would allow me to approach by stealth and make my appearance on my own terms. As I rounded the corner, I smiled as I saw a beautiful lighted fountain in the center of the corridor, still a distance from the entrance to the ballroom, which was visible on the other side. The lights danced over the streams of water, changing every few seconds in a way that was hypnotic, calming my own anxieties about the evening and making me smile. I paused to watch the variegated light patterns glint off of the droplets of water and I stood still letting my body sway slightly to the music, lost in the colorful display, getting lost in the moment.
My reverie was broken by the movement of something red on the other side of the fountain, alerting me to the fact that I was not alone in my admiration of the light and water display. Stepping slowly to the left, I saw the source of the color, a gorgeous woman in a shimmering red dress. The fabric hugged her supple curves, with an opening showing her lower back displaying a lovely light skin tone with a small freckle just to the side of her spine. Her long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and even though I couldn't see her face, I was mesmerized. Apparently my appearance wasn't as stealthy as I imagined, and she turned slowly, with a warm smile that made the beauty of the fountain seem as bland as the copy paper we used in the office. I secretly took in the sight of her, both an amazing figure and a lovely face, lips that reminded me of red rosebuds, and her blue eyes which seemed to see into my soul.
"Hi, I'm Tamara." she said when she finally spoke, extending her delicate hand to me, noting the red nail polish that matched her dress perfectly.
With my mind on autopilot, I slipped my hand into hers, feeling the warmth and enjoying it far more than i should have, smiling sweetly and replying, "Elena... so nice to meet you, Tamara, and damn I love that dress, you look amazing in it."
As I regained my senses, it seemed a tad strange that a beautiful woman would be standing purposely a distance away from the fun of the evening. I leaned my head to one side, and with a crooked smile asked, "Not a fan of the Bessmer bash I take it?"
Tamara rolled her eyes and then broke into a grin that showed her perfect teeth, which just made my insides turn into jelly. Did she have any earthly clue how beautiful she was? "Wow, got it on the very first try! Yeah, when it first starts it's ok, but the more drunk the guys get they go from ridiculous bullshitting to hitting on anything that moves and back again. Unfortunately my husband always seems to be the ringleader."
My heart sank, shit, she was straight, and in fact one of those pretty little straight wives I had mused about earlier. In reality, I would never cross that line, either personally or professionally, and given how genuine Tamara was, even more so. I tried to think of something to say that wasn't awkward, the last thing I wanted to do was scare her off. "Well, we're in the same boat then. We girls gotta stick together, right?"
Tamara's lips curved upward so much that I felt like I had just handed her a check for a million dollars, a sign that I had instinctively hit the exact note that I needed to. "Woo hoo, Girl power!" She lifted her hand up for a high five, and without so much as a second thought, I slapped my hand loudly against hers, making us both giggle.
Sensing I had earned the right to get closer now, I touched her forearm non threateningly and said, "I need a drink, how about you?"
"Oh, I am gonna need more than one, but there is no way in hell I will brave that den of assholes to get one," Tamara said, her eyes rolling.
"No worries, love, I will go grab them for us, and go all warrior princess on them if they get near me. Well, not that they would anyway," I said, realizing at the last second that I had set myself up for a question I wasn't ready to answer for her yet. Oh shit!
Tamara's eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed for a second, "And why is that?"
I had to come up with something clever or risk blowing it. Giving her a wink, I replied, "To make it in this business of mostly men? Gotta scare the hell out of them." Her smile and nod told me that I had managed to answer to her satisfaction. I had no doubt I would tell her that a little later, but I wanted to craft that discussion perfectly. At that point I scurried off to grab some well earned libations for us, knowing that I had bought myself some time.
Tamara
My red heels clicked on the pavement as I stepped out of our black SUV and the valet drove it away. I smiled as I walked arm in arm with my husband Alan into the ornate glass doors of the Grand Hotel, where his company always hosted its annual holiday party, or the 'Bessmer Bash' as everyone called it. I had mixed feelings about it, some years it was fairly tame, with dancing and fun, but more often than not turned into a drunken debacle, with the men hitting on anything that moved, myself included. Alan always had the tendency to flirt, strut, and brag but after enough drinks he became insufferable, often openly propositioning any woman within three feet of him. One year after the party, I called him out for his lewd behavior, accusing him of cheating, and he actually hit me. Not a tap or a warning slap, but his fist crashing into my face, causing me to fall back and landing on a glass vase. The vase shattered just before I hit the floor, the edge of the jagged piece ripping a six inch gash on my upper thigh, making me cry out. Twelve stitches later I 'conveniently' forgot about what happened, not reporting it to the police and blocked it from my memory. Needless to say, I was terrified of pissing him off again after that.
"Are you ok, hun?" Alan asked, as if pretending to care.
"Just fine," I replied, pasting a fake smile on my face. "Can you... take it easy tonight? I know it's easy to get carried..."
"Just drop it!" He snapped, a fierce look in his eyes.
"You're right. Sorry," I said, gritting my teeth to maintain some sense of control.
Once inside, a well-dressed middle-aged man approached us, his silver name tag reading
Philip
. "This way sir and madam," he said with a smile, leading us to a brightly lit room filled with people and loud, pulsing music.
I could tell that the revelling was already well underway, remembering all too well what that often led to. Alan waved to a group of ten or so guys that I recognized as his team members, and he started to head over towards them. My stomach twisted, as if in warning, and I pulled back from him. "You go ahead, I don't want to cramp your style. No worries ok? Go have fun."
Alan frowned and then shrugged his shoulders, muttering, "Your loss, Tam." I swear he did that out of spite, knowing I loathed being called that. I just nodded with another fake smile on my face, stepping back into the corridor, eyes darting around for some place to get away from everything.
Peering down one of the branches of the corridor, I could see lights, and figured out that it was some kind of decorative water feature. It appeared large enough to essentially hide behind, and seemed like a safe place to withdraw to, close enough to hear Alan should he start calling for me, but far enough away to provide meaningful cover. I walked as quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself, slipping behind the fountain until my view of the ballroom entrance was obscured. My only regret was not getting a good strong drink, my hands were shaking a bit, proving I needed to calm my nerves. I spent a few minutes doing some deep breathing exercises learned from Yoga and felt my heartbeat starting to slow to a calmer pace.
After a few minutes of solitude, I felt like I was being watched, and fearing the worst, turned to see who it was. I was relieved to see it wasn't a drunk, predatory guy bent on harassing me, but rather a lovely woman around my age, in a short, black cocktail dress that was both simple and elegant, showing off her long legs and nice breasts tastefully. Her facial features were striking, feminine, slightly darker skin than mine, high cheekbones, and deep brown eyes. Something about her was magnetic, like I was somehow in her orbit now, and I felt compelled to introduce myself.
"Hi. I'm Tamara," I said, extending my hand to her, feeling very relaxed now. There was no threat here.
"Elena. So nice to meet you, Tamara, and let me say you look incredible in that dress," she replied, her hand clasping mine. I felt a sensation I couldn't quite identify, but enjoyed it nonetheless, not making any attempt to release her grip. Elena's expression changed a bit. "Not a fan of the Bessmer Bash I take it?"
Maybe she wanted to escape the insanity too
, I thought. "Got it on the first try," I said, finally releasing her hand. "Things start out ok but quickly winds up with guys getting drunk and hitting on any woman close by. Sadly, my husband is usually the ringleader."
Elena's lips tightened, and I thought maybe I had said something wrong. She wasn't wearing a wedding ring, but maybe she had a guy that was in that circle and she didn't like it any better than I did. Truth be told, I couldn't interpret her expression, and I was about to say something when she blurred out, "Well we are in the same boat then. We girls gotta stick together."
Wow, she gets it! She totally gets it! I giggled and replied, "Girl power!" I held up my hand for a high-five, and giggled as she returned the gesture with marked enthusiasm.
About a second later, I felt a soft touch on my arm, not sexual but just friendly - genuinely friendly - and I welcomed it. Being in a relationship with an insecure self-centered man had left me feeling pretty isolated, so it was refreshing and enjoyable to connect with Elena. Pretty, smart, funny, she had it all.
"How about a drink? I could use one," she asked, smiling warmly.
