This story is fiction. Constructive criticism welcome as this is a first time submission by the author.
*****
He had always been a pious man. A man of God. He read his scriptures day in and day out. He arrived to work in well pressed suits that his wife Chelsea ironed each morning. He spoke of Chelsea often, and their bouncing baby boy Bradley. Dave had, by every account, the perfect life.
But something bothered him. No matter how often he tried to keep his thoughts pure and ask God for grace day in and day out, his mind often drifted to his coworker Jessica. He often wondered why. Perhaps it was the way her voice, like lavender, like silk, swirled in his head long after she had spoken. Perhaps it was the way her pant suits hugged her hips in the most perfect way, and perfect butt bouncing as she walked. Perhaps it was the openness to which she spoke of her dating life.
Dave didn't like to hear about those things, but her weekend stories of one night stands and evening drinks with strangers often wandered to his cubicle as she chatted with her friend Kathy in the break room.
Perhaps it was the way she looked at him, like she knew something he didn't. As he anticipated Jessica's presentation in the office later that afternoon, he thought about how she might glance his way as she clasped the microphone in her dainty fists. How her blouse might dip a bit low if she needed to bend down over the lectern...
"Are you actually going to come?"
Dave stood frozen like a deer in headlights as Jessica appeared, as if summoned by his budding lust, caught in his shame and unfaithfulness. "Pardon me?"
"The presentation this afternoon? Are you coming? You had to go to your son's doctors appointment last week..."
"Oh right; yeah he had a little cough. I'm planning to-to be there. We'll have to think about how we want to make the budget spreadsheet, I don't know if you'd thought of that yet..."
"Oh, I've thought about it." She said, with one eyebrow raised, as if he had said something other than a suggestion for keeping the budget organized. "I'll send you a calendar invite for after so we can go through the columns and tabs and decide on the best format with all of the data we need to track. Ok I've gotta run, see you later." Her tight skirt wrinkled under each butt cheek, left-right-left-right, as she walked away.
Dave wondered if she knew. He believed himself to be depraved and disgusting for thinking about her that way. He had a wife and a child. He tried to focus on the peanut butter and jam sandwich that awaited him in the fridge.
After lunch, returning to his seat, Dave checked his email. A calendar invite popped up: "9:15pm - Jessica Mansfield: does this time work for you?" It was later than he typically stayed, but a brief glance at their calendars showed it was the only time available before their deadline. His wife didn't like when he worked long hours. Reluctantly, he clicked "accept."
At 3:15 he headed to the afternoon presentation. Jessica, as intelligently as ever, went through each slide in detail, cracking a few jokes here and there but really hammering down the important points. Dave looked at her in awe, then down at his shoes. He always froze up when he had to give speeches at Church events. He wished he could speak like she did.
The hours rolled by and Dave was stressed about the new budgeting guidelines that management was insisting on. He had hardly noticed how quiet and dark the office had become when he received an email reminder of his meeting with Jessica on the 7th floor. As he rounded the corner, he suddenly dropped all the files in his hands as he saw her.
Gone was the pencil skirt. Gone, the reports from that afternoon's presentation. Jessica stood stark naked in nothing but a pair of maroon heels at the small conference table, ass cheeks pressed on the glass table as she bit down on a pen, smiling. Was this real? Had he drifted off to sleep late again?
