Closing Time

Things were weird at work. They hadn't announced that the office was closing yet, but I didn't really feel like doing much work since I knew it was pointless. I also knew that there was a good chance I could get a different position somewhere else, so I had to keep up the pace a little bit.

Pete and I hadn't discussed what happened between us, but I honestly felt like it made things go back to normal between us. Actually, I’d make the argument that things were even better. Our bond was a little stronger. He even slapped my ass once in the kitchen when nobody was around. It strangely didn’t feel that sexual, though. It just felt like two friends who were super comfortable around each other. I guess one friend being inside another friend will have that effect.

They didn’t announce that our office was closing for about two weeks. Those two weeks were extremely uncomfortable, so I was relieved when Pete came by my desk and let me know that the announcement would be the following day.

“Thank, goodness,” I replied as I let out a sigh. “I’ve been slowly taking my stuff home and I’m waiting for somebody to notice that my cubicle is practically empty.”

“Oh, is that why it looks so nice in here?” Pete asked. I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey, a few people have gotten wind that there’s going to be a big announcement tomorrow so they want to do happy hour. You up for it?”

I bit my lip. Did I trust myself to drink and not blab what I knew? I figured I could and if I couldn’t, what did it really matter?

“Sure,” I replied with a smile.

Happy hour was pretty fun, but it was difficult to listen to everyone gossip about what could possibly be announced and not say anything. It was nice to spend some time with my coworkers since I knew I wouldn’t see them much anymore.

Around 8, Pete asked if I was ready to go and, without even hesitating to question why he was asking me, I agreed. Pete and I ended up walking towards my apartment.

“I’m going to miss California weather,” I said as we walked down the street.

“Yeah,” Pete agreed. “So you’re definitely not staying here?”

I took a moment before answering. “I really don’t think so. There’s nothing keeping me here. Have you thought anymore about what you’re going to do?”

Pete sighed. “I, um, have,” Pete replied.

“Oh?” I asked, looking over at him. He was looking down at his feet.

“I had a phone interview with a company in Colorado.”

“Wow, really?” I enthusiastically asked. “That’s great!” I saw he wasn’t as excited about the statement as I was. “Do you not want to move back home?”

He laughed. “I do, sort of,” he replied. “It’ll be nice to be closer to my daughter. It sucks having to get on a plane to go see her.”

I felt for Pete. In all the time that I knew him, he was a great father to his little girl. Him and his ex-girlfriend never fought about parenting, either. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but he seemed to make it work. “I guess if you can move anywhere, it makes sense to move closer to her.” I paused for a moment. “So, why don’t you seem excited?”

Pete sighed. “It’s just a big change, that’s all. I do have a life here.”

I laughed. “I know, I know.”

“Plus,” he continued. “I was really convinced New York was the move. I mean, if I could have those bagels every morning, nothing else would matter.”

“Ugh, so true,” I replied as my mouth began to water.

“Who knows? Maybe it still is,” Pete said. “But this job in Colorado seems really cool and being near my family… It just feels right. I don’t know if I can start over again, you know?”

I nodded. “I totally get it,” I replied. He didn't explicitly say it, but I felt like he was apologizing to me for not wanting to follow me to New York, even though I wasn’t even sure I was going back home. I can’t lie; I was going to miss him and I would love to continue working together or, at the very least, live in the same place.

“Okay,” I began so that the awkward silence could go away. “How’s this for a shocked face?” I stopped walking and turned to face him. I made my eyes get really big and pushed my jaw as far down as I could.

Pete threw his head back in laughter. “Why don’t you just try to stay out of sight when they make the announcement? Maybe you can bury your face in your hands like you’re really upset or something?”

I snickered. “Thanks for the advice.”

We were back at my apartment within a few moments. “Well,” I began. “Thanks for walking me home. That was really nice of you.”

Pete smiled and rocked back on his heels. “You’re not going to invite me in?” He asked with a smirk.

I smiled as I felt my face getting red. “Do you wanna come in?”

Pete wiggled his eyebrows at me. “If,” he began, “you want me to come in.”

I felt like I was graduating college or heading back home after a successful week at summer camp. Everyone had survived and things were coming to an ending. What would a little more fun hurt?

So, I invited Pete in and he spent the night. The sex was even better than it was the first time. This time, we were able to take our time and it felt so good to cuddle afterwards.

The next morning, I woke up to Pete putting his shirt on. “Good morning, gorgeous,” Pete said with a kiss. He had to go home and change.

“I’ll see you at work, though. Don’t be late.”

Post Report Drinks

I smoothed down my dress before bending down to pick my panties off the floor. Pete was still catching his breath as he buckled his pants.

“I’m going to um, run to the bathroom,” I awkwardly stated before scurrying out of the office. It was the first thing either of us had said since finishing our joint activity. Running to the bathroom not only helped me prevent a urinary tract infection, but it also gave me a moment to compose my thoughts. While I was finally able to get out of my own head and enjoy the moment, I was now right back in my normal mode of overanalyzing. It took a lot of effort, but I quickly shook myself out of that mode. I would see what Pete said when I went back out.

As I walked back into the office, I saw Pete sitting behind his desk, eating his dinner. I couldn’t help but smirk. It was as if nothing had even happened, but he was eating like he hadn’t had food in a week.

“Eat up, girl,” he said. “You need your strength,” he continued with a wink.

I laughed while simultaneously blushing. I grabbed my dinner from the bag and began eating it.

“I’ll come in early tomorrow and finish up these reports.”

“Oh,” I began. “You don’t have to do that, Pete. I can come in or stay now and finish them.”

“No, no, no,” Pete practically cut me off. “We’re going to get drinks once we’re done eating.”

I looked at him hesitantly. “Oh, we are?”

Pete nodded and I shrugged. Like I said, my brain was in power save mode.

So we finished our dinner and began organizing the paperwork we had neglected so that the next morning, Pete would be able to quickly bang out the reports; no pun intended.

Pete suggested a bar near the office that I had been to a few times. I ordered a Moscow mule and Pete ordered an IPA.

“So,” Pete began as we had our liquid courage in front of us. I would’ve bet the bar tab that he was going to bring up the incident that just happened, but he went in a different direction. “What do you think you’re going to do once the office closes?”

I had almost forgot that the turn of this night all started because Pete told me we were losing our jobs. “Well,” I began as I took a deep breath. “If I lose my job and get severance, I’ll probably look in a different direction for work. I could use something a little more stable.”

“But you’ve done so well in your position,” Pete interjected. It made me really happy to hear him compliment my work like that.

“Thanks,” I replied as I look down at my cup. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about going back to school and maybe even getting into academia. I like the research side of my position.”

“You think you’ll stay here?”

I shrugged. “If I have complete freedom, I really don’t know.” I took a sip of my drink as I looked at Pete. “What about you? You’ve known for a little while longer than I have. What’s your plan?”

Pete leaned back in his seat and stared off at the wall behind the bar. “If anything, the time has just made me more confused,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve talked to a few people and I think there are opportunities for me at the other offices. Houston would be a little easier, but they said they might be able to get me something in New York, too.” Pete began to look nervous and took a sip of his drink before continuing. “I’ve, um, you know, asked them about you, as well.”

“Really?” I asked as my heart sped up. I could see Pete was a little fidgety, too, and I found it incredibly endearing.

“Well, yeah,” Pete said with a smile. “You don’t deserve to lose your job. You’ve done so well and you’re one of the company’s biggest assets. Larson agrees with me.” I wanted mentally rolled my eyes. There was no way Larson complimented me in a professional or nonprofessional sense.

“I figured if you had the choice between New York and Houston, you’d want to be back home. So I’ve been putting a good word in for you when I can.”

I bit my bottom lip and tried to resist the urge to kiss him right there in the bar. No guy had ever believed in me so much and put so much effort into seeing me succeed. Sure, he was my boss, but I could tell there was a lot more care there than simple mentorship.

“Pete, you have no idea how much that means to me.”

Pete looked up at me and smiled. “You know I’ll always care about you. I hope what happened today doesn’t make things weird between us. I mean,” Pete began as he shifted in his seat a little. “I’ve wanted that for longer than I care to admit, because obviously you’re hot, but it’s more than that now. You’re an amazing girl. I hope you know that girls like you are really rare.”

I could barely contain my emotions at this point. Pete was making me want to cry. “Thanks,” was all I could muster to say. “You’re a great guy, too.”

“Well, shucks,” Pete replied with a smirk. “I know this was kind of a heat of the moment thing and obviously, with everything else going on, we both have a lot of transitioning to do in the next few weeks. I want you to know that, no matter what, I care about you and you can always reach out to me.”

I smiled and this time, I did lean over and kiss him. “Same goes for you,” I replied. “We’ll always be friends.”

After drinks, we both headed home, knowing each other a little better than before.

Staying Late: Part Two

“A shot?” I hesitantly asked. “What’s going on, Pete? Let’s just finish up these reports and then you can do whatever you’d like with your night.”

“The reports don’t matter,” he said as he clenched his jaw. Then, he promptly took the shot.

“I know, they’re annoying,” I responded as I sat back down and opened up my laptop.

Pete began laughing in a very creepy way.

“Pete, are you okay?”

“I’m great,” he sarcastically responded.

I closed my computer and placed it on the seat next to me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to press anymore, but I couldn’t exactly continue working with Pete in this state.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Pete took the second shot himself. Then, he stood up, walked over to the window, and glared out. “Caroline,” Pete began. “The company is done.”

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he began as he turned around and began rubbing the back of his neck. “The company isn’t done. The New York and Houston offices are fine. But us… Well, we’re done. It’s not profitable to have all three locations when so much work can be done remotely.”

If I hadn’t been sitting down, I probably would’ve fainted at that point. “So, we’re losing our jobs?”

Pete propped himself against the front of the desk facing me. “The specifics aren’t set yet. They’ve been trying to prevent this for a few weeks now, but I had a feeling they wouldn’t be successful. I mean, if I was in charge, I would’ve closed us down a long time ago.”

I stood up for a moment and walked over to the window. Even if I was relocated, I’d never be in this building again with this view. I knew it was a possibility for a while, but I guess I didn’t want to believe it.

I turned around and walked over to Pete who was still positioned against the desk.

“So, how long do we have?”

Pete shrugged. “Maybe a month. If you don’t get relocated, you’ll get severance, so no need to stress yet.”

“What about you? Do you know where you’re going?”

Pete shrugged again as he looked down at his feet. “You know, I’ve been stressed about it for so long now, that I kind of feel a sense of relief.” Then he looked up at me. “I feel a sense of calmness; everything will be okay.”

At that moment, I suddenly realized how close Pete and I were. Our faces were only inches apart. I don’t know if it was the agitation from the terrible news or the realization that we probably weren’t going to be coworkers soon, but I could quickly tell that neither of us was thinking about our possible unemployment at that particular moment.

Our faces moved closer together and it only took a few seconds before there was no space left. Even as I felt Pete’s lips press against mine, I couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

As Pete and I continued kissing, I reached my hands up around his neck and I could feel his resting lightly on my waist. He kissed me softly at first and I could feel the crack on his bottom lip that formed in the last couple weeks.

Our kisses became deeper and soon, we were moving so that I was against the desk. Even as he positioned me onto the desk, he was still towering over me.

I lifted my legs slightly as he simultaneously moved closer to me so that he was completely pressed against me. I was wearing a pink shirt dress that day, so I could feel him getting hard through his pants directly against my panties.

He began running his hands up and down my body before resting them on my ass and lifting me up just enough to get a better feel. I ran my hands down his chest before getting to his waist. I began pulling his shirt out of his pants.

To my surprise, he stopped kissing me for a moment. “Hey, um,” he began as he briefly rubbed his chin. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I started to think about his question, all the pros and cons of the situation, before pushing all of that reason out of my mind. “Yes,” I replied. For once, I wasn’t going to overthink the situation. I was simply going to do what I wanted.

Pete smiled and leaned down to kiss me again. As I continued pulling out his shirt, he began running his hand up my leg and under my dress. I felt his fingers lightly tugging at my thong and I promptly wiggled out of it so he could completely pull them off.

After he pulled them completely down, he paused to pull his shirt over my head before kneeling down. I let my head fall back as I felt his tongue on me. He was moving it in little circles and I gripped onto the desk as I let out a soft moan. Even though the office was completely empty, it still felt incredible devious to be doing this in the workplace. That obviously made it way hotter.

After a few minutes, Pete stood up and looked into my eyes as he licked his lips. I pulled him in to kiss me more as I reached down and helped him unbuckle his pants. After a few minutes between fiddling around with his pants and him quickly departing to his desk for a condom, I felt him enter me.

“Fuck,” he moaned and I mimicked his pleasure with a moan. He thrust into me slowly at first before picking up the pace. It didn’t take long before I felt myself begin to orgasm as I banged repeatedly against the desk.

A few minutes after, I felt his body tense as he finished.

After all this time, it finally happened. What now?