Today was the first Wednesday of the month, which meant we had to sit through an office-wide meeting, one that was apparently universally dreaded by every single employee at the Torver Corporation. I had nothing against meetings in general, but this monthly one was apparently the dreaded time where they went over all the information that nobody really wanted to talk about because it was so dreadfully dull. The people who worked at Torver were all creative and ambitious, and there was nothing any of them hated more than being inconvenienced by a meeting that was not so much a community brainstorm than a lecture on where to park and how to sign their timesheets.

 The meeting didn’t take place in the Torver Corporation offices, but on the ground floor of the building, in a large and dreary all-purpose room filled with different colored folding chairs. Johnathan Torver was seated at the front near a projection screen, and half the office was already there, looking bored out of their minds already. The room had a musty smell to it, like dust and cleaning supplies, and looked more like a room from a nursing room or hospital. Clearly the rest of the building was not up to the standards of the Torver office quite yet, and I couldn’t blame them. I took a seat near the back and waited, already feeling my eyes moving towards the clock. I took out my phone and scrolled through my email as I waited for Johnathan to begin.

 My eyes were stuck to my phone, but I felt a definite presence behind me as someone took a seat in the chair directly to the back of me. I had a dreadful feeling it was Cassidy. I hadn’t managed to say a word to him since our passionate kiss in the supply closet, and I was terrified. Maybe I should just run back to South Dakota now…run back and never see him again…and run back into a marriage I wasn’t sure I wanted.

 No. I would stay.

 “Morning,” came a British-accented murmur from behind me, and I felt goosebumps rise up my arms.

 “Hi,” I said under my breath, still looking straight ahead of me. Just the thought of making eye contact with him after what had happened in the supply closet the other day was making me queasy, and I kept my eyes locked on the floor.

 “Alright, everyone,” Johnathan began, and I let out a sigh of relief. “We need to go over protocol for how to deal with our human resources department. If you could please turn to page 394 in your handbook, you will see a chart detailing…”

 I let Johnathan’s voice fade to the background as my mind wandered elsewhere. Cassidy and I were the only two people sitting this far back in the room, and I could sense his head only inches behind mine in the closely situated chairs. It was terrifying…and exhilarating.

 “So anyways,” Johnathan continued. “We have a fundraiser next month that I think will be an excellent opportunity for you all to network and build connections both for yourself and for the Torver Corporation. However, we need to do a lot of the planning ourselves, and I am counting on you all to figure out what tasks you will each be responsible for so this fundraiser is a success. Kirk, we’ll put you in charge of hiring a band, and I think Samantha would do a superb job at picking out a bartender, and perhaps Sabryna, you could do decorations? Our guest list currently stands at about…”

 “Are you avoiding me?” came Cassidy’s voice from behind me, and I nearly jumped.

 “No,” I whispered back.

 “Well, you shouldn’t be. You shouldn’t be embarrassed. I liked that kiss a lot. I wanted it.”

 “Good,” I said, unsure of what else to say, and terrified that the rest of our coworkers would hear us under Johnathan’s lecture.

 “I wanted a lot more, actually,” Cassidy said, and my eyes widened, sensing where this was going. “Do you want me to tell you what I wanted?”

 I felt my heart begin to race…did I?

 “Yes,” I whispered under my breath, compelled by lust or curiosity or that strange spirit of freedom and exploration that lately had been pushing me forward into all kinds of dangerous and unexpected situations. “Tell me.”

 I held my breath and tried my best to look at Johnathan as I felt Cassidy’s breath on my ear.

 “I wanted to kiss you more. I wanted to shut the door and lock it closed so we wouldn’t be interrupted. And you know what I’d do then?”

 I was too terrified of being caught to speak.

 “I’d lift you up off your feet and push you against the wall…”

 I closed my legs together, and I found myself suddenly praying that no one could hear him.

 “I’d kiss you again, and again and again, and then I would suck on your neck until your knees grew weak,” he whispered, and I bit my lip, trying to hide how aroused I was. “And then I would slide my hand up under your skirt, and I’d have you moaning and panting so loudly that everyone in the office would hear how desperate and horny you were, and then I’d…”

 I suddenly stood up and rushed out of the room, feeling my face burning scarlet again and my legs nearly as weak as Cassidy promised he’d make them in his fantasy. I had run out of the back door as quickly and quietly as I possibly could, so I don’t think anyone had noticed my sudden exit, as they were probably barely awake anyways. I ran to the bathroom in the next hallway and nearly collapsed on top of the sink, glad and relieved to finally be alone.

 I looked up at myself in the mirror, trying to decipher the strange version of myself staring back at me. My face was still calming down from the embarrassment, but it was now more pink than scarlet, giving me a soft glow, and my hair was falling out of my bun from my quick run down the hallway and my fidgeting in the meeting. My brown eyes were wide, pupils blown out even under the lights of the sink, and I let out a laugh, holding my head in my hands.

 For the first time, the guilt was not the first thing on my mind. My mind was fixed on Cassidy Evans, and on the rough baritone of his voice behind me, of all his filthy promises. Ben had never spoken to me like that, nobody had ever sent such fervent rushes of arousal through me that had left my head spinning and my heart light. It was exhilarating, like stepping off of a rollercoaster…

 …Or getting ready to step onto one.

 All of a sudden, it was like I didn’t care. I felt myself let go off my strings and leave my past with all of its promises behind.

 I wanted him, and I was ready.