It was a Friday before a long holiday weekend and I was sitting at my desk wishing I'd had the forethought to ask for the day off. As it was, most of the rest of the staff was off getting an early start on their Memorial Day weekend. So here I sat...not really enthused about starting a new project. I decided I would piddle most of the day and wrap up a few loose ends here and there.
I like my job as an IT guy for a chain of department stores. I have the respect of my co-workers and enough independence to move about the state from time to time "visiting" store locations and generally making people happy. However, that wasn't the case today - I was stuck at the mostly-empty home office. I'd made the rounds enough to be seen by anyone important enough to care then sat at my desk listening to music on my office PC.
I glanced up to see Karen walking by and she seemed to catch my eye, but kept walking towards her own office in the corner. She was one of my best friends at the bank and we frequently confided in one another as we were of the same mindset on most things. I had noticed her virtually the first day I started working here several years ago. She was quite tall for a woman, nearly 6 feet tall, with short dark, curly hair that shined like it was wet all the time. She was a tiny bit pudgy around the middle but not so that anyone would refer to her as BBW. It looked good on a woman her height.
She was pretty in the girl-next-door sense and quite attractive at almost 40 years old. At a glance her most significant feature was her bust line (which she kept well-covered being the lead HR generalist). The few times I caught a glimpse of her cleavage it was obvious that they were firm and round like melons. There was no jiggling when she strode past and I assumed there was some impressive hardware keeping them in-place. There was never a hint of nipples so it was probably the kind of padded bra full-figured women had to wear. I'm no expert but guessed her breasts were much larger than D cups.
When you took the time to interact with her you quickly noticed her pretty green eyes and a very few freckles on the bridge of her nose. If you were lucky enough to witness her smile then the gods had surely found favor with you. Her smile became the center of the universe. I could never put my finger on it, but it was a fact. Like gravity, you couldn't see it or define it, but you darn sure knew it was there. I've heard men (and women) say about someone that their smile could light up a room. I never understood that until meeting Karen. The smile was genuine and so completely open that you knew she was holding nothing back.
She had an understated confidence, she knew exactly who she was and not not the least bit concerned with what anyone else thought of her. She wasn't aloof or snobby, but she was her own woman and just didn't seem phased by people's opinions of her or any temporary situation. She was very conservative in both dress and attitude but there was always an undercurrent of flirtation and innuendo between us. Being on the HR staff we were careful to be nothing other than co-workers when at the office. Over the years we had become, to my surprise, the best of friends who shared just about everything.
We frequently went to lunch together and knew more about each others' families than some spouses. When I was having a bad day she was the one I confided in, and she did the same with me. We had both married too young to know the person we took up partnership with and our respective marriages had ended not too long after they started. She had been single for about 10 years and I for about 8. I dated a little but never found anyone who made me believe our relationship would end any better than my marriage. Karen might have had a couple of dates a year and usually told me about the pathetic details the next day.
Around 10am I was listening to "Jumpin Jack Flash" by the Stones and she appeared in my doorway. This was not unusual at all, but the look on her face was much different than anything I had seen before. She asked, "What 'cha working on, buddy?"
"Nothing much", I said. "I have some reports to polish off and I was just sitting here waiting until 5 o'clock, to be honest."
"Me too!" she said. "There are only 3 people working on the whole floor and two of them are now in your office", she giggled. She took a chair from across the office and moved it beside my desk and sat down with a sigh. Since the office was practically empty she was a little bolder about spending time with me.
She had on a feminine blouse with no collar and it plunged a lot lower than just about anything I'd seen her wear before. But it still would not have raised an eyebrow since many other women in the office wore much more revealing clothing than that every day. It was only strange because it was Karen. I couldn't help noticing the sides of her generous breasts and how creamy white they were - almost like they'd never seen the sun. I would bet a paycheck they were firm enough to bounce a quarter off of.
I guess I held my stare just a bit too long and she blushed a little and pulled her blouse up to hide most of her cleavage. "Karen, I'm sorry about that", I said, blushing myself. "I didn't mean to stare at you like that. You know I'm not like that!" I said.
"Sure you're not!" she said. "Every man is like that when boobs are around and ones as big as these are especially difficult to ignore", she giggled. "I've had to keep these things covered up my whole professional life since I work in HR. I can't very well fuss at the younger girls about showing their 'assets' if mine are on display, now can I? My sister bought me this blouse and I knew better than to wear it to the office. I can't keep the damn thing p where it should be."
"I suppose not, but I still am embarrassed to have been caught leering like I was", I said.
"Nonsense!", she said. "There's no harm in looking a little and god knows we've been friends long enough for you to have taken a peek every now and then. Apparently you've never caught me checking you out before."
This threw me for a loop and I said, "What were you checking...?! Damn! Are you serious?"
She almost laughed out loud and said "You bet! I'm human too! Do you actually think that women don't notice things like that? We are just more cautious about how we go about looking."
"I can't believe that after all these years we are having a conversation like this." I said mostly to myself in disbelief.
She laughed and said, "Well mister, I've never known you to be anything but a perfect gentleman, and I have always appreciated that about you. I never had to worry about whether you were just being nice to me to work your way into my pants. You've been a great friend for so long that I really can't complain about one slightly less-than-innocent look. Hell, you're probably the only man who hasn't stared holes in my blouses wondering what was under here," she said looking downward. She took a finger and pulled her blouse downward now, showing even more that before and exposing almost porcelain skin and the edges of her lacy bra.
"Do you really think they look good?" she asked.
