It had become the best part of my day; every afternoon just before closing, fifteen minutes of time alone with her…
But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s go back a little. New job, new city, everything bright and shiny, waiting to be discovered. I had moved for work, and everything had fallen into place nicely.
Late one afternoon in mid-autumn, as I made my way home, I walked past a café and felt like something sweet. It was quiet inside, no other customers but me, the last staff members leaving as I entered. A lone woman was on the phone, her back to the door finalising last minute orders for the following day. The owner, I assumed.
I stood at the counter, waiting patiently. I was in no rush. The call continued on, eventually ending, and then she turned to me. I still remember that moment in vivid detail; it was as if a sudden current of energy swept through the room and filled me from head to toe. If you ask me to describe her in more detail I cannot, for that feeling blurs everything away and the detail dissolves, leaving just the pure electricity of the moment. I was incapable of coherent thought, and words seemed to tumble nonsensically from my mouth.
“Are you okay?” she said, eying me suspiciously. It was cold outside, and my babbling and long coat may have given the wrong impression.
“Sorry, I just had a moment of…. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure! My apologies, I can normally construct a sentence, sometimes whole paragraphs even.”
She smiled politely, but I knew that the best course of action would be a hasty retreat.
“I… I was just after a cupcake, if you have one left? People in the office say they’re amazing.” I lied, desperately trying to salvage the situation. My office was miles away, and it wasn’t even an office!
“I’m sorry,” she said, “sold out for today. Maybe tomorrow, come a little earlier, okay.”
I smiled and nodded, backing away from the counter and left, closing the door quietly behind me. All the way home I ran it back in my mind, over and over again. Her face, her voice… there was something about her that I couldn’t stop thinking about. For the next two weeks, I went back every day, the same time, same routine. I think she thought I was a little crazy, but she humoured me nonetheless. Eventually, she kept one back for me, knowing I would come.
A few more weeks passed, and each time I was there we would chat a little more. Her name was Jenn, she was the owner, and without question the sexiest woman I had ever known. Most of the time I don’t think she even realised it, but it flowed from her, and I was caught in its wake, happily ensnared.
I opened the door one afternoon, Jenn had my cupcake on the counter ready and waiting, the telephone cradled on her shoulder, listening intently. “Mmm hmm, yep……. Yes, I can, but at such short notice….. Yes. No. Not for that. No, it’s impossible for that little….. Oh! Okay, I misunderstood. Then yes. No problem. See you at seven.” Hanging up the phone, she took a deep breath and sighed. “Hi Sam,” she smiled, though looked a little weary.
“Everything okay?” I asked
“Mmm? Oh, yes, nothing bad, just a big order, last minute. But, they’re willing to pay double, so I can’t complain... not really anyway.” She laughed a little, and leant back on the counter. “The only real problem is everyone has gone, which means a frantic few hours for me”.
“I could help!” The words were out of my mouth a little too quickly, and I regretted them instantly, too keen, too desperate.
She smiled and laughed gently, “Thank you, but I’ll be fine”.
“Of course, absolutely.” I gathered my composure as quickly as I could, “I do like baking though, don’t get much of a chance at home. The offer is there, it would be my pleasure”.
I watched her face as the thoughts ran through her head, from dismissal to laughter until finally puzzlement, when she said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I never joke about baking.”
She smiled, genuinely, a little chuckle escaping her perfect mouth. “You’d help me bake 200 cupcakes, right now, for no other reason than you like baking?”
“Yes.”
A moment passed, and she looked at me, really looked at me…
“You’re crazy… I’m crazy for letting you! But ok, let’s go.”
A surge of excitement ran through my body, the two of us, alone… I followed eagerly into the kitchen.
The next three hours were a blur of activity, measuring, sifting, pouring, tray after tray after tray; no sooner was one batch brought out than the next was in, filling the kitchen with a delicious, warm aroma. There were racks everywhere, cakes cooling in the walk-in refrigerator to speed the process. Frosting, decorating, boxing, then onto the next. Twenty-five, then fifty, seventy-five. “Something’s Burning!” Eighty-five, 120, 150, 190…. Two hundred. The last box was done, as perfect as the first, and we stood and admired our work. The moment was broken by a knock at the kitchen door, the delivery driver awaiting his cargo. Loaded and suddenly gone, a few spares on the bench top the only evidence remaining of our work. We stood in the now empty kitchen, strangely quiet after the frenetic activity of the last few hours.
“Drink?” Jenn smiled, indicating the other room. I nodded, and followed, feeling tired but my mind buzzing.
“I keep a bottle of wine back here for times like these, is white wine okay?”
“Perfect.”
Two glasses in hand, she came over to the table where I had sat and poured, the wine running coolly down my throat. Jenn closed her eyes and let the wine do its work, sighing deeply, contentedly. Her arms slowly raised from her sides until they were over her head, stretching out her back and pressing her breasts firmly against the front of her blouse, her nipples semi-erect behind the fabric. I forced myself to look away, but felt a stir within me.
I concentrated on my wine, not trusting myself any further. “Sam?” Jenn was looking at me directly, those eyes fixed on me in a way that made me shiver with desire.
“Can I ask a favour,” she said, “well, another favour?”
“Of course”
“My shoulders get really stiff, would you mind…?”
I managed not to choke on my wine and got up smoothly from my chair, coming around behind her and taking her shoulders in my hands. I started gently massaging them and could feel the tight knot of muscle slowly release its tension, bit by bit. I knuckled the top of her spine with strong gentle force until I felt her really begin to relax, then using my thumbs I ran them up the vertebrae in her neck, into her hair and back down again. My fingers continued to press and squeeze the tension from her until she sighed, a gentle “mmmmm” escaping her lips. Her head had fallen forward as I was working on her, and I knew I had to take the opportunity now.
I bent down, and lightly brushed the side of her neck with my lips…
“SAM!” Jenn cried, and I sprang back, knowing I’d gone too far.
I stood there as she got quickly to her feet, my mouth gaping soundlessly, trying to explain.
She crossed the distance between us in a moment, so fast I barely saw her move. Her hand came up and I braced for the slap, the sting of it on my cheek sharp and immediate.
“How dare you! How could you… All this time that’s what you were thinking?! How could you make me wait so long!!” She reached behind my neck and pulled me into a long deep kiss, passionate and intense. Her mouth opened to me and her tongue came seeking mine. My arms locked around her waist and lifted her into me.