Grant and Angie are two supporting characters who appear in another series of stories I'm working on. This started as an explanation of what happened between them, and I soon realized it needed to be told on its own. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please vote and comment!
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Grant winced and hung up the phone. Angie had just sounded a little off, maybe a little colder. And who could blame her, this damn project had been forcing him to work late more often than not, but not in a way he could plan on it. He couldn't believe how much he loved his fiery, beautiful, little wife. And she had been so damn patient...at first. It pained him that right now his work-life balance was a laugh, and that they were suffering for it...
she
was suffering for it. He'd explained to her that he hoped it would lead to a promotion, and at first, she understood. Then after a few weeks, she'd begun saying he didn't need the promotion. Now she wasn't saying much of anything.
He knew he came home tired and stressed, which meant that not only did they have less time together, but she also had to deal with him in a bad mood more often than not. What made it even worse was Kelly. Kelly Dyson was assigned to work on this project with him. She was from procurement, and they would play a significant role in the success of the task he'd been assigned.
She was fresh out of college and six years younger than him at twenty-two. She was bright; bright enough to have been put on this project when they normally would have given it to someone with more experience. There were two more things about Kelly, at five foot seven, blonde, and curvy, she was extremely attractive. She was also too interested in him.
She had shown signs right away, over two months ago. Grant wasn't vain, but he knew he was good looking, six feet tall, took care of himself, and had wavy, brown hair that he hated but women seemed to like. So, he'd seen this before. But he had never had a woman just keep trying. It had started with her flirting, then, despite him not responding, she had progressed to touching him, nothing that seemed inappropriate at first, but now it seemed like she always found a reason to have a hand on his shoulder, arm or back. She had even grabbed his knee once, but his surprised flinch had made her withdraw her hand.
Grant did think once that he should tell Angie about it, but she had a temper, and he was afraid she'd flip out, or possibly make a scene and cause issues for him here. Besides, he was a guy, guys weren't supposed to be intimidated by women, they were supposed to want this kind of attention, or so he'd been brought up to believe. So, although he didn't encourage her, he didn't do much to dissuade her either. And he never told Angie.
Another thing that bothered him was that there was a part of him that admitted this might not result in a promotion, or the money that would come with it. He knew he'd never get the time he missed with Angie back, but he would try his damndest to make it up to her!
Angie wasn't happy. Not as happy as she had been when she'd met Grant five years ago. He had done everything in his power to win her heart. Her family had been convinced he was the one before she was! He treated her like gold and even handled her temper easily, helping to diffuse it more often than not.
Angie's grandparents had moved to Houston years ago from South Florida, and before that, they had lived in Puerto Rico where they had been born. Her mother had married a local, but Angie's Latina heritage came through strongly. Her skin had a perpetually tanned appearance, and when she actually tanned it got even darker. Her big eyes were so deep brown they looked black, and her hair was mahogany brown and showed streaks of auburn when she got a lot of sun. She was five foot two, slender, and had small, firm breasts.
But Angie saw the tall Texas blondes and envied their big tits, big hair, bubble butts and big boyfriends. She knew she was stretching the truth. There were people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds in Houston, but she made the perception her reality.
Then Grant came up to her in college one day and started talking. For some reason, she couldn't get it through her head that he was serious about her. It wasn't that she didn't get dates; she'd had plenty, and even a couple serious boyfriends since high school. But for some reason, he fell into her mythology and couldn't possibly be interested in a non-blonde, non-cheerleader type.
But he made her deliriously happy, and eventually she returned the favor when she agreed to marry him. He got a job in production at an oil company, and she used her business degree to get a job in a chain coffee shop's regional headquarters. It didn't seem like much, but she knew there would be chances to move up.
Four years had gone by, and they had a good life, and a good marriage. They did everything together and had a fun circle of friends. All that had changed a couple of months ago. He had been excited about a project he'd been assigned to lead. The prospect of a promotion was good news for them and the first week, he'd only had one late night.
Now he was working late every night, and the last two weekends as well. When he was home, he was tired and grumpy. He kept telling her it would be over soon, but she no longer believed it. If this was how it was going to be, she didn't want him getting the position. They hadn't been out with friends in eight weeks, they hadn't even gotten an invitation in the last two. She lost her cool a couple of times, but still he worked.
Grant was feeling punch-drunk. He was so tired, but so close to finishing the proposal! He tried to explain to Angie that this may be the last week of late nights, but she had just rolled her eyes at him. He didn't blame her, he'd stupidly promised that in the past to try to avoid arguments, even though he knew it wasn't true at the time.
As happy as he was that he'd soon be spending more time with his wife, he was equally glad he'd be rid of Kelly's never-ending attempts at seduction. They'd seemed to pick up this week as if she knew she'd miss her chance once the proposal was done. Her attempts this past month had been difficult to ignore. It seemed like every time he turned around there she was, bending over, short skirt riding up to show the top of thigh-highs, or leaning over his desk, with breasts almost popping out her bra, visible in her loose low-cut blouse.
To make it worse, Angie and he hadn't made love in about three weeks. They had enjoyed a great sex life, both having healthy libidos, but they'd both stopped trying to initiate sex; her out of anger, him out of exhaustion. Kelly had noticed the tension and had startled him a couple of weeks ago by trying to massage his shoulders. He'd shrugged it off a couple of times, but she kept trying and eventually he gave up. He was tense after all; and it felt great. No harm, no foul, right?
Angie hung up after talking with her mother. She'd inherited her temper from her but had just learned that she still couldn't hold a candle to her mom when it came to giving someone a piece of their mind. She was still a little wide-eyed in shock. She had called complaining about Grant and his precious project and her mother cut her off, telling her to stop whining and be a wife. That she was being selfish and should put herself in his shoes, that he was doing this for them to have a better future.
Angie didn't agree with all of that, but it did make her feel a little bad about how things had gotten between them. She knew she had done her part to make things worse, and decided to make it up to him tonight when he got home. But he'd be tired, so maybe there was something else she could do.
