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.