by Pace, Pepper
Jon had paused expectantly and Noreen realized that he’d already asked his question and was waiting for her response. Quickly she replayed the one sided conversation back…it almost sounded like Jon had said that the 107 page training guide that the two of them had worked on for the last month was no longer there…because that would mean that the project that she would need to turn in Monday would not be available for the printers…which would mean that the seventy-two people that had been hired and due to start training in thirty-six days would not be able to do that.
“What did you say?”
“Noreen, did you keep your backup?”
Noreen hurried to her computer and retrieved the sent file that she’d emailed to Jon two days before.
“Yeah.” Her breath came up in a rush of relief. Jon was leaning his lanky body over her chair watching her computer anxiously. “There are the two files right there; the training guide and the quiz…” But when she tried to open them, nothing happened. “Oh my God…”
“Noreen, tell me you backed up the final draft before you sent them?”
“Yeah. On my desktop…” Quickly Noreen opened the project file and there it was…only it wasn’t the final draft. There were no test questions, no examples, no practice exercises, no exhibits. This was elementary, there was no way this could happen…Except when she was finished with a project she cleaned it up and got rid of the extra files. Could she have accidentally…?
All thoughts of a hot bubble bath and Jaheim’s sexy crooning voice coming over her sound system completely disappeared. Noreen opened file after file, even going through her recycling bin. Jon did the same thing back in his cubicle. Her phone rang and she answered it abruptly. It was Jon calling from his office
“Noreen, look I worked on an attachment back at home. I saved at least those on my computer. I’m going to head back to my house and see if I sent a copy of the final there-”
“Jon, please do. I don’t know what will happen if…”
“I’ll call you when I get home.”
She searched a while longer but it was a waste of her time. It was evident that there was no final draft. A months worth of work was down the drain…Her phone rang a while later and she picked it up before the first ring had ended.
“Noreen…I’m sorry, but no luck.”
“Damn.” Her eyes felt hot and swollen. She’d need another week…she could recreate it in a week. But a mistake like this was inexcusable, and it could cost her if the company that had its new hires all lined up to work had to push it back because of an elementary mistake…
“Noreen look, we can probably put it together over the weekend.”
“What?”
“It’s possible.” Jon sighed. “We’ve already worked all the questions and answers for the Test. We just need to remember them. I’ve done the exhibits once already so I should be able to knock those out fairly quickly.”
Noreen felt a glimmer of hope. “God, are you serious? I mean, Jon…I’d owe you big time if you’d be willing to help me through the weekend-”
“Ok, why don’t you come over here and we’ll pull an all-nighter and get this thing knocked out.”
“Jon, I owe you my life!” She laughed almost giddy. “I’m going to email you the last-”
“Uh…no. There might be a virus that wiped out the file.” She hadn’t thought of that. “Just come on over.” Quickly he gave her directions and Noreen hung up and rushed around her office collecting hard copy files and things that she thought she’d need for the project.
Not even twenty minutes later, Noreen came to a screeching halt in the parking lot of Jon’s apartment complex. Slamming her car door and juggling the project material, Noreen hurried up the apartment stairs to Jon’s unit and rang the bell. When Jon answered he quickly rescued her from her load and led her into a surprisingly spacious living room. Noreen hesitated before stepping into the apartment. She didn’t know what to focus on first; the richly decorated room or Jon wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Why had she pictured him lounging around his home in tan pants and a button down white shirt…?
“Jon, you can’t imagine how much I appreciate this. You are truly saving my ass.”
Jon just smiled slightly. “Not a problem. Just put your jacket over in the closet.” He headed into the kitchen. “I’m just finishing up with dinner. I hope you’re hungry.”
Oh God…new age vegan food…she wasn’t up for any tofu burger or whatever it was he ate. She was trying to think of a polite way to beg off dinner even though she suddenly realized that she was pretty hungry. Her dinner time had long come and gone…
After hanging up her jacket, mind spinning up excuses, Noreen followed him into a small but neat and clean kitchen. It did smell awfully good in here…
“Its just veggie chili. I hope you like it spicy.”
Curiously, she peeked into the pot of bubbling goodness. It looked and smelled like the real thing. A sudden surrealness fell over her. How did she come to be standing in Jon’s kitchen on a Friday night while he stirred a pot of chili, wearing jeans and a t-shirt covered with a picture of some rock group? She really could not equate this Jon with the Jon from the office who wore the crisp white button up shirts and beige slacks.
Suddenly she realized that she needed to pee. She had run out of the office without going to the bathroom first. “Do you care if I wash up?”
He gave her a questioning look. “Did you bring a change of clothes?”
“Well I just meant…pee.”
“Ahhh.” He chuckled and looked even more different, more relaxed. For a moment it stopped her in her spot. She wasn’t sure if it was the way he stood at the stove or the tilt of his narrow hips, or even the wiry muscles that she now noticed standing out on his bare forearms. All she knew is that it felt strange. Jon gestured back out through the kitchen door. “Upstairs through my bedroom is the bathroom. There’s fresh towels if you really do want to shower.” Even though his face appeared expressionless, Noreen sensed that he was having fun with her.
Her face felt warm. “Um, I think just the peeing will do.”
His brow arched and he turned back to the chili as if to say ‘suit yourself.’ Jon was a man of few words. In the past Noreen had taken that to mean shyness. But now…she wasn’t sure.
Noreen took her time going to the bathroom as she examined the photo’s and artwork hanging on his wall (all very artfully done). She loved the color of the walls that led up the stairs…that new green of a sun-kissed pear. Then in his bedroom the walls were a deeper moss green. Bed unmade…it was the only thing that she’d seen thus far that hadn’t been in total order.
As Noreen used the facilities something dawned on her. As soon as she had rung Jon’s doorbell and he had taken the load from her arms…he had also taken one from her shoulders. She felt relaxed and confident that Jon would handle the matter. And that was strange to feel that away about the young man she’d just so recently ended a student-teacher relationship with.
When she returned downstairs, music was playing softly from the sound system. It sounded like Maroon 5 and they were crooning about secrets…
Jon had set the little two seat dinette with oversized colorful mugs for the chili, non matching plates for the crusty bread that set in the middle of the table. And there was even a chilled bottle of Sangria.
“Just in time.” He pulled out her chair and held it for her while she sat. “You don’t have to have any of that Sangria but I love it with this chili. And it isn’t very intense especially with a full glass of ice.” He sat down.
Noreen took a tentative taste of the chili…Yum. It was spicy, just the way she liked her food. Jon had arranged small dishes of cooling sour cream, diced green onions, black olives, and grated cheese. And soon her mouth wanted the icy sweet sangria…and Jon hadn’t lied! It was awesome with the spicy chili.
“You like it?” He asked. She nodded, dabbing her lips with a cloth napkin.
“Delicious. How did you make it?”
“It’s just a vegetarian frozen chili that I doctor up. I put in black beans, white beans, carrots, mushrooms…and whatever else I have fresh. Um, let see…diced tomatoes and zucchini rounded it out this time.”
“Well it tastes beefy.”
“That would be the mushrooms.” Jon sipped some of the sangria. “And the sangria? Good isn’t it?”
“Mmm.” Was her agreeable response. But she was already tired and this was going to be a long night. The last thing she needed was to get the ‘itis’ over some good food and good wine.
Jon seemed to read her mind. “I’ll make a pot of coffee. This is going to be an all nighter.”
“Jon whatever I can do to make this up to you, consider it done.” Jon said nothing which let her know that one day he would call his ticket in…and she intended to pay up.
Several hours later Noreen was in deep concentration behind a state-of-the art computer. Briefly she wondered how Jon could afford such a nice place, with such nice things at such a young age.
Jon navigated the computer while she used the scratch pad to come up with a rough layout of the test questions, practice exercises etc. They worked quickly and expertly with her ripping pages to lay out before him and he expertly inputting the information through the correct programs to create the finished products.
“You know.” He said in a low voice made gravelly from lack of use. “I think this is better then what we had before.”
Noreen nodded. “You’re right. It’s like, better tuned.”
“Exactly.”
Noreen had long ago kicked off her Jimmy Choo’s and the coffee was strong, the music mellow and she was completely confidant that a month’s worth of work would get done, even better than the previous version.
When her neck began to ache she rubbed it and looked up at the clock. “Um, Jon. Did you know it was almost one a.m.?”
Jon looked up then winced, rubbing his neck.
Noreen stood up and slipped on her shoes. “On that note I think it’s time for me to leave-”
Jon’s brow furrowed. “What?”
She busily gathered her things. “Yeah, it’s late. I’ve already overstayed my welcome and we’re both bushed-”
“I thought the plan was to do an all nighter?”
She gave him an amused look, despite her fatigue. “Honey, for me this IS an all-nighter. I haven’t been up this late working in ages.”
Jon chuckled and his eyes appeared clear and alert. Shrugging he turned back to the computer. “Okay…bail out on me if you want. I’ll keep working.”
“You’re not tired?” Noreen asked in amazement.
Jon shook his head. “I’m rarin’ to go if you are.” He stood up and stretched popping his neck, then his shoulders, then his fingers. Noreen gazed at his long lean form… “I just need a couple of ibuprofen for my neck is all.”
Noreen dumped her things back on the desk. “Okay, I’m going to use the facilities again-”
“While you’re upstairs bring the ibuprofen back down. It’s in the medicine chest.”
“Okay,” she called as she hurried up the stairs. This time there was no dallying as the coffee wanted out. She closed the bathroom door with a resounding thud as she rushed to the toilet.
The idea of pulling up the nylons afterwards was just too much, so Noreen slipped them off then rubbed her legs. God, what she wouldn’t do to remove the confining bra too…what the hell. She made a small bundle of her bra and nylons then found the bottle of pills and opened the bathroom door to hurry back downstairs. She jumped half out of her skin at the sight of Jon in the bedroom standing before his chest of drawers.
“I have a shirt in here for you to change into.” He spoke without even looking at her. “There’s no need for you to be uncomfortable if we’re really pulling an all nighter. I’m sure this will be more comfortable. Just change in here.” Jon turned finally and handed her the shirt, taking the bottle of ibuprofen. His eyes swept over her form, lingering at her now loose breast before quickly glancing away.
Maybe it was the lack of sleep and the continued surrealness, but Noreen felt a sudden jolt in response to that brief look.
Her brow gathered in confusion at the suddenness and intensity of her desire and more so because of whom it was directed at. But probably just as confusing to her is that she could clearly see that Jon was having the same reaction to her as well. His eyes met hers again but this time held.
That look caused another spike of passion to leap in her center and Noreen almost took a step back.
Jon’s eyes stayed glued to hers, searching. She regarded him in confusion trembling slightly at the suddenness of the erotic intensity coursing through her.
Jon walked towards her in that easy way that he strolled unhurried from place to place. There was something so cool and relaxed by Jon that she’d always liked…
His hand rose and she felt his fingertips lightly tracing the line of her cheek. Her breath caught in her chest and she suddenly found it hard to breath. It had been so long since she’d been touched. Her body craved it in a way that surprised her. She was alarmed at the wetness she felt stinging her eyes. Mortified she drew away from his touch but as she turned to retreat, she felt Jon’s arms slip around her waist and hold her firmly in place. His body fell into line behind her and molded easily to hers. His cheek nuzzled her hair. His actions were without hesitation, without fear; just his body telling hers what it needed.
His hands splayed out against her belly and she felt his breath warm against her cheek as his lips traced a path from her ear to her neck. She could hear his breath ragged, causing goose bumps to cross her skin. Her legs buckled as a sudden warmth of her silky juices dampened her panties. Jon’s arm held her in place with a strength that surprised her.
She reached up and struggled out of his grasp, pushing his arm away and only then did he release her. She spun around and gave him an accusatory look.
His lips were parted slightly, lids half hooded with passion, his breathing still ragged. She closed her eyes to block out the need that she saw in them. She could see that it was a mirror of her own desire.
Even when she felt him step up close to her again, Noreen did not open her eye. It wasn’t his fingertips that she noticed on her skin this time, nor the tightness of his body against hers…but it was his lips. They lightly brushed hers then hesitated seeming to give her an opportunity to pull away.
She didn’t.
Emboldened Jon’s lips parted to capture her fuller lips into his mouth. Noreen gasped. God…had she ever been kissed like that before? Still with no other part of their bodies coming into contact, Jon’s lips gently and with great consideration devoured Noreen’s. This time it was Noreen that took the steps to close the space between their bodies and it was her hands that ran beneath his shirt to trail up his tight lean back.
Jon gripped her and all of their barriers seemed to melt away. Their hands moved over the other hungrily. Noreen’s head began to float, heart pounding in her chest. Each time she thought about what she was doing the headiness would draw her deeper into his kisses.
If Jon had any hesitation she didn’t sense it. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and Jon’s breath came out in a rush. The reaction in his body was immediate. He pushed his pelvis against hers and the hardness she felt sent her into another degree of unreality.
Part of her still wanted to retreat…but that part was growing smaller and smaller.
Jon continued to take control. His hands reached low to grip her round ass. His big hand clutched and pulled her to him. Noreen gasped. His hard dick dug into her insistently and now she thought she was going to black out! It felt so good. She couldn’t stop imagining it working in and out of her…in her mouth with her tongue exploring and savoring it…