Mary had been a shy housewife for 20 years when the stress of making ends meet forced her to get a job, her first job since being married. Now that her youngest kids were in school all day, she could afford to be gone during the day. Her hubby didn't like it much, but they sorely needed the extra income.
The time she had spent on the computer in recent years paid off and she quickly found a data entry job with a consulting firm in the administrative office. Going to the office everyday was new for her and a welcome change from managing the house and kids. The corporate world was all so new and thus she stayed pretty close to her desk, only venturing out to heat her lunch in the kitchen or use the restroom. Even her office manager, Amy, told her to get out and take a walk occasionally.
When heating up her lunch, she had noticed some of the consultants coming and going. Many were dressed nicely but one, Pete, seemed to always be there making coffee when she show up. He always seemed to smile at her when she turned the corner into the kitchen and she found herself looking for him when she showed up. On the days he wasn't there, a moment of regret hit her until she chided herself for acting like a school girl.
One day he wasn't there so she popped her lunch into the microwave and started it. Then realizing she had to pee real quick she jumped into the bathroom nearby. When she came out several minutes later her lunch had exploded into the microwave sending food all over the inside. She must have set the time too long, she thought.
Just as she set about cleaning it all up, Pete came around the corner and flashed a smile at her ... until he saw the mess in the microwave.
"Oh did your lunch overcook?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," she stammered.
"Oh don't be sorry, that microwave acts up all the time," he replied, helping her clean the microwave.
"Without a lunch of your own though, your coming to lunch with me." And with that announcement, he hooked his arm in hers and whisked her down the hallway and out the back door and down the stairs. She was so shocked, she didn't even think to protest. Before she knew it, she was in a Lexus tooling across town. She looked down at the plain dress she had chosen to wear that day.
"We're not going anywhere nice, right?" she asked, "I really didn't dress for it."
"Nonsense, your dressed fine. But if you'd like, you could take it off before we get there."
After her perplexing look he flashed that smile her way to say that he was joking. She returned the smile nervously.
Lunch was an upscale steakhouse. The whole time, she was nervous, thinking somebody she knew would see her there. Pete insisted she get the large sirloin, she hadn't ate this good in a long time and it was nice to splurge a little. They talked about work, her younger days before she was married, how many kids she had, and so on. When they left, Pete took her arm and escorted her back out to the Lexus and back to work they went.
Later that afternoon, she got a scary email at work. The sender was from a yayhoo account.
"Guess you really are liking your new office job. I saw you at lunch today with him. I saw the way he took your arm on the way out. What happened afterwards in the Lexus, I wonder? If you don't want me to tell your husband, you must do as I say. Reply here with your answer."
She was mortified. Although she hadn't done anything, appearances were important to her. She fretted for a few hours before sending a short response.
"What do you want?"
Within five minutes, a reply appeared in her Inbox.
"A kiss. With tongue. Today. Under the back stairwell basement level of your office at 5 pm."
She looked at the clock. It was 4:30.
She got up and mentioned having to go to the bathroom. She continued past the bathroom to the back stairs. She went down the two flights to the basement and circled back around them. It was secluded and out of sight ... if one stayed under the stairs far enough. She returned to her office desk.
"Okay. One kiss. At 5 pm"
Her hands shook as she completed her work for the day. She began to wonder who the person she was supposed to kiss was. She daydreamed about some handsome consultant and she found her panties getting moist. Then it struck her, how did she know it was a guy?
At 5 pm she walked the hallway towards the back stairs. Her throat was dry and her palms sweaty. Besides her husband, she hadn't kissed anyone since she had got married. She definitely wasn't doing this again though.
She descended the flights of stairs with her heart in her throat and beating wildly. She got to the bottom and instead of continuing through the door to the basement level, she made a U-turn back under the stairs. She approached the dark area cautiously but found it empty. The floor was clean linoleum and the wall painted cinder block. She leaned up against the wall for a moment, relieved.
As she was leaving, the basement door opened and she stepped back under the stairs. Steps came closer and she saw male dress shoes and slacks and then Pete came into view and up close to her.
"Oh it's you," she whispered, pounding her fists on his chest. "You scared me Pete, why did you do this?"
