The next day was Tuesday. It was the morning and I was at my desk in the office. Amelia, Bonnie and Krystal had already arrived and were milling around in reception. I walked in there with a huge smile on my face.
"You look happy," remarked Amelia.
"Maybe I am," I grinned. "Bonnie, can I talk to you for a moment?"
The tall, womanly-looking brunette smiled in her usual friendly way. "Sure."
"Follow me in here." I gestured towards a side room. Bonnie walked in through the door and I waved at a conference table and told her to grab a chair. She did so, and I sat opposite.
"What is it?" she asked, concerned perhaps that something was wrong.
"Ha, don't worry, it's not you -- you're not in trouble," I replied.
Bonnie relaxed a little. "Oh, good."
"Bonnie," I began. "I've met a guy."
Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"The other day. Sunday. He's just moved in next door."
"Nice."
I looked at her. "It's better than nice. Oh, wow, Bonnie -- we had the most amazing sex last night."
"WHAT!" cried Bonnie. "Already? That's fast!"
I felt sheepish. "Yeah, I know -- but -- oh, Bonnie! I needed it!" Then I blurted out the whole story -- how I had met Daniel on Sunday morning, how I'd worn no bra on our first meeting on Sunday night at his place, deliberately to sex him up, then returned last night for a hot workout before ending up in each arms on the floor. I gave her all the deets, not holding anything back.
After I was done, Bonnie leaned back in her chair. "So. Huh. You basically effed the guy within an inch of his life -- and he was OK? What happened after that?"
"Well, we hugged in place for what seemed like ages, then got up. I told him -- reassured him -- that I wasn't normally like that -"
"Oh, no, not at all -" smirked Bonnie.
"I'm not! I wouldn't normally be so wild -"
"What about that party back when you were twenty-five, the one you told me about -"
"That was ages ago! I was young then!"
"You still are, honey. You're only thirty-two."
"Yeah, well -- but Bonnie! I was so hungry!"
"All that meat and no potatoes, from the sound of his body," grinned Bonnie.
"Will you stop? But seriously -- I've never been so ravenous for a man, it's not like me -- I'm not into rough sex and that -- but" I struggled to put it into words. "I just needed him so badly, I could just feel this incredible hole inside me that needed to be filled -"
"Tell me more about this incredible hole."
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?"
"Hahaha! Sorry -- I'm just kidding with you."
A break in the conversation. I put my head in my hands. I looked up at Bonnie, suddenly feeling emotional. I could feel the sting in my eyes that told me I might cry. "Bonnie, I've done myself in."
Bonnie looked concerned again. "How?"
"I don't know. I've just -- neglected myself." I thought. "I mean -- I didn't intend to. I've got my job, this business, a nice house, some great women friends..." I gesticulated towards her. "I thought I was doing great. I've got enough money. I'm happy -- or, at least, I thought I was."
I suddenly felt adamant. "It's just, away from the office, my life's so boring. Every weekend I watch you girls go out and do your fun stuff and I just go home and faff around, pottering about, wasting time the whole two days of the weekend. There's been absolutely nothing going on. For five years. Now -- last night -- Daniel just made me feel -- like a woman again. You know?"
"Hmmm." Bonnie frowned. There was a long pause. At last, she spoke. "You know what? It's this job."
I felt a frisson of annoyance. "What?"
"It's this job. Too many women all in one place, an all-female workplace. All this estrogen, and not enough testosterone to go around."
I looked at her, exasperated. "Bonnie, be serious! I -"
"I am," she replied, calmly. "Face it. Put fifty young women all in the same building and stuff is bound to happen."
"Like what?"
"We're all as horny as a cat on heat. We're all twenty-something, with all those hormones and no one to spend them on. We're climbing the walls most of the time."
"That's not the fault of the company. I set this thing up to get you girls out of what everyone else has to put up with in this industry. You've heard the horror stories -- abusive fashion designers yelling at us backstage, model agency owners demanding sex just to work for them, sexual abuse, rape, being treated like a prostitute, creepy guys pawing all over us at New York Fashion Week. There's a #MeToo reckoning going on as we speak -- don't you get it?"
"Sure."