Page 12 of Submissive Lies

No, not bad. Not bad at all.

I smiled at him, making an ‘I’m sorry!’ motion at the phone and my desk. He returned the smile and made a ‘don’t worry about it’ wave. I finished the call as quickly as I could, glancing between the paperwork and him. Once the handset was back in its cradle, I came around my desk, hand extended.

“I’m sorry about that! I’m Jennifer.”

“I totally understand.” He gave me a firm handshake as we came together. “I’m Thomas.”

His smile was warm and damned if I didn’t feel a slight tingle go up my spine.

“Ready for lunch?”

“Yes, definitely. Let me just grab a few things.” I turned back to my desk to dump the folder I’d already put together into my bag, and then we were off.

Lunch went much better than I could have imagined. It was pleasant, enlightening, and at moments downright fun. Thomas—he was Thomas, never Tom—was intelligent, amiable, personable, funny, and confident. All attributes that in my current state were Tomahawk missiles straight to my relationship triggers. Even if I had still been embracing my submissive nature, he would have been intriguing. Since I had put that part of my personality aside, there was no denying the attraction and the chemistry I sensed taking place between us. At this point in my life, coming off of Ben, my confidence in my ability to read people wasn’t at its highest. By the same token I didn’t think I was a total failure at it either. My Spidey-senses were tingling during our lunch, and I felt there was a decent chance Thomas was catching the same vibes.

“Hey, this has been fun. I can honestly say this has been the most relaxing power lunch I’ve had since coming over.” Thomas grinned across the table at me like a boy caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

“I’ve enjoyed it, too. We should do it again.” I smiled. It shouldn’t have sounded like a request for a date, and yet it did.

“Yes,” he looked at me with eyes that narrowed at the same time his smile shifted subtly. “Yes, we should.”

We weren’t flirting with each other. At least that’s what I tried to convince myself. We were heading in that direction, though. Taking those first tentative steps off the trail of simply co-workers and into the forest of I-like-you-you-like-me-what-do-you-say and all things beyond.

Smiling softly at that memory, I closed my eyes as sleep began to overtake me. In that dreamy half-state, I put my hand to Thomas’ back, feeling his breathing. It was peaceful, relaxing, and something I’d grown to love. It was something that I’d found comforting from the first night we’d spent together. A night that hadn’t been long in coming after our lunch date. After that day things had progressed quickly. We did the relationship dance for two months and by the third we’d become the perfect couple.

And then, in the span of the next three short months, it all started to go to hell.

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