This is my first Literotica submission. I welcome your feedback, but beg you to be kind.
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It has been about six months since I accepted the position with this company. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. My salary is the same as it was in my last job, but there are so many aspects of this new job that make it so much better. Today is an example. Company-wide closing time is 1:00 p.m. on Fridays. This Friday, the company hosted an all-staff catered barbecue after work at a large park nearby. We all played, ate, and had beer or wine on the company tab. The barbecue is far less stuffy than the ego-driven country club scene my previous employer seemed to like so much.
When everyone drifted away from the park, the festivities moved on to a bar a few blocks away. The bar owners seemed to believe they had a traditional Irish pub, but it's really just a half step above a dive. The whole place is crowded with people from my company. I only know the few I see on a daily basis. There are people from other departments that work in entirely different buildings. We all congregate in our usual groups, not mixing our departments socially, though there seem to be a few people who successfully navigate the entire place. I happily watch on as my colleagues get a little tipsy and act a bit foolish. A couple of the younger ladies are acting flirty with each other, but I can't determine for whose benefit. I let my glance wander across the various tables and groups, knowing I will likely meet many of these people at some time in the near future. That's when I first saw her.
She was laughing with her group of friends and I couldn't look away. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back in a pony tail that gave the message she was not out to impress anyone. That laugh was loud, giving me the impression her confidence was not lacking. Her green eyes had a sparkle to them that said there was nothing fake about the laugh. She was enjoying herself. To anyone else, there was likely nothing outstanding about her, but I found her magnetic.
I managed to bring my eyes back to my own table before I was caught staring. I forced a smile to my face and spoke to the group. "I'll get the next round. Who needs another?" Several voices rose and hands flew into the air. We all agreed I would order a few pitchers of beer for the group.
As I walked toward the bar, I saw her again. This time she was standing and making her way to the restroom. I figured there was no harm in making a stop there myself before I stood in line at the bar where the lone barkeeper was doing his best to keep up with the unexpected early-afternoon crowd. As I followed her toward the back of the room, I took in her appearance from the back. She had small, feminine shoulders and a slim waist that curved out into wide hips and a round bum. She appeared to fidget with her shirt sleeve and walked with a slight tilt to her head. Her posture seemed shy, not at all like her strong laugh. Curious.
When I reached the interior of the restroom, she was already in a cubicle. I did the same and took care of my business. We arrived at the sinks to wash our hands at the same time. I could see her face in the mirror and made note of the smattering of freckles across her nose. I already guessed her at early 30s, but the freckles made her look even younger. At 45 myself, I knew I shouldn't even be considering looking at her the way I was.
She caught my eye in the mirror and, to my surprise, she spoke. "I get spoiled by the toilets at work. Now I expect auto-flush in every restroom. And same with the faucets. It seems inconvenient to turn knobs to get the water on and off."
I smiled. "First-world problems, right?"
"And clearly the most intelligent bathroom conversation to be had," she joked. "Hi, I'm Shelby. I work on floor 3 in the main building."
"Melanie," I replied, holding eye contact in the mirror. "I am in mutual funds, so I'm in the smaller building down the street."
"Sounds like we won't be seeing each other around the office, but it's nice to meet you," Shelby grinned. She looked down to the floor. "We're wearing nearly the same shoes."
I glanced down. Sure enough, my black trainers were the same brand and style as her red ones. "Great minds and all that. Yours are a bit more bold than mine."
"Well, Melanie, I've got a beer waiting for me. It's good to know you." Shelby smiled again and made her way out the door, dropping her paper towel in the bin as she walked out.
"Uh huh," was all I managed to mumble as I made my way back to order the pitchers for my table.
That was that. I managed to sneak a glance at her once again before she left about twenty minutes later. Those green eyes and freckles were just about the most adorable combination. Shelby was the picture of youth, but her curves were evidence that she was all woman.
While I was certainly curious about Shelby, I talked myself back from pursuing any more information about her. Social media stalking was something I couldn't allow myself to do. Besides, I didn't know her last name and I could hardly go Googling "Shelby who works on floor 3." So I put her out of my mind for the most part.
It was a few months later when I saw her again. This time was a company volunteer event in the spring time. As I was a manager in the office, I was also assigned a somewhat managerial task at the volunteer site. The large group of volunteers was being divided into smaller groups and assigned a variety of tasks as we all worked to beautify a housing project largely inhabited by elderly folks on public assistance. The facility had great programs, but certainly made use of volunteer labor a few times a year to assure upkeep of the property. Our groups worked indoors and out doing everything from housekeeping to pouring concrete to replace damaged pavements. I tried not to notice where she was, but I saw Shelby volunteer for the team that was to help with gardening.
As one of the coordinators, I moved around the worksite to make sure the volunteers found their task and had all the tools that they needed. I couldn't help but notice Shelby as she worked just as hard as anyone else, and also made efforts to keep conversation going and morale up. She joked around and moved a bit among the various people. It seemed she knew everyone. As the day wore on, her wavy hair turned outright curly. A few tendrils curled tightly near her hairline. How could it be that getting sweaty and muddy was actually making her more adorable?
I made my rounds among the small groups, checking nothing was needed.
"Hey Shelby," I took pleasure in knowing at least one name in the group. "How is everything going over here?"
"Oh, hi Melanie!" she seemed genuinely pleased to speak with me. "I think we are all good here. We've filled several bins with yard waste. A lot of areas were quite overgrown." She smiled and I could not stop from grinning back.
"I know the community appreciates what we're doing," I told her. I noticed she stopped working and held eye contact with me. She was breathing a bit heavily. I figured it was from all the work she was doing. Her face was glowing from the exertion. I had to reel my mind back from picturing that glow resulting from another type of exertion.
I cleared my throat, looked away for a beat, then looked at Shelby again. "Say, would you be interested in grabbing a drink at the end of the day?" I hear myself say to her, surprised at my own nerve.
