Discovering Staircase C

Monday arrived. I was so excited to be going back to the office, to see Kelly again. I didn't have to hide my excitement from Janet. I really loved the project and relished working with everyone. She was aware of this, and was happy for me. The first hour or so was spent making sure my team was on the right track for the day, addressing a couple of bottlenecks for them, checking their work, replying to a few project-related emails, accepting some meeting requests for the week, and then it was time for my daily session with the documentation team. Although this time there were only 3 people joining me. Kelly was not among them. In my best business attitude, I asked if Kelly was running late. Gretchen said that Kelly's husband was sick and she stayed home to nurse him back to health. Inside, I sighed. A very deep, longing, sigh. Kelly was telecommuting, I was told, working from home till her husband was better. So we could communicate by email, but since we hadn't yet shared personal email addresses or phone numbers with each other, yes, we could email one another, but since this was a city-run project that was under very tight scrutiny, we didn't take any chances with the emails we shared. It was all business, or 99% business, as she asked if the building elevators were fixed yet. And they were. But in my reply I said that I was still taking the stairs as a little form of exercise. She knew what I meant without having to ask. We would continue using Staircase C when she made it back to the project.

Kelly was a no-show at the office on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. We continued sharing business emails, as she had a job to do and it was my responsibility to assist her and the rest of her team. Her last mail on Wednesday said "See ya tomorrow!" That brought a big smile to my face and a light flutter to my heart.

Kelly was back at the office on Thursday, just as she said. God, she looked good. So fucking good. She wore a maroon form-fitting dress that made me think way too much about what was underneath the material. Summoning hidden reserves of inner willpower, I set my mind to plow through a busy workday. Gretchen cancelled our meeting that morning, stating that the docs team needed to huddle up to update their schedules and project plan. Disappointing, but understandable. They took up residence in one of the project 'huddle' rooms. I walked by a couple times for genuine business reasons, cough-cough, but the team was really engrossed in their work. Kelly didn't touch base with me for her regular mid-morning smoke break, so I was unexpectedly productive that morning. I noticed they all left for lunch together too. No problem. I was a really productive Joe. I was in a couple of development and business meetings early in the afternoon. The project was churning along at warp speed. Everyone knew their roles, knew their jobs, and we all worked really well together. The chunks of features that had gone completely through development and testing were greeted with widespread acclaim by the city executive team. We still had a long ways to go, but so far, so good. And we kept on rolling.

I got an email from Kelly late in the afternoon, about an hour before end of day. "Sorry, hectic day! C?"

I knew the meaning of her cryptic message. Staircase C. "On my way" I replied.

I didn't even wait for a response from Kelly. I got up and walked back to the staircase entrance, and she came from an adjacent direction. There was no one else in the rear hallway. I opened the door for her, and she stepped in and aside so I could take her hand from behind and lead her down a couple flights of steps. Her subtle fragrance smelled delicious. We both listened as we walked. Complete silence, except for the noisy hum from the elevators as they labored up and down with their passengers.

I got to the same step where we stopped before. As I turned around, Kelly's lips attacked mine with ferocious hunger. Deeply moaning, not just her but both of us, our tongues moving from my mouth to hers, thrashing between our joined lips, my hands pressed her body tightly into mine, as our kiss quickly grew in intensity. It was crazy, lustful, so fucking hot! I caressed and squeezed her ripe ass, moving up along her sensuous hips, the sides of her torso, finally to the sides of her clothed breasts. Finally, finally, my hands were on her soft breasts. Much more than a moan and barely less than a cry into my mouth, Kelly tried to cover my hands with hers, together on her breasts, strongly caressing and pressing. I was rock hard inside my slacks, as Kelly quickly discovered with her hand exploring down my body to my groin. She broke our kiss and threw her head back in passion as she rubbed and squeezed my hardness. Whimpering with need. Panting with desire. Hearts racing like mad. My lips sought out the nape of her neck as a low growl escaped from her mouth. Then she lost her balance and fell into me.

We staggered a couple of steps on the landing before regaining our senses and our balance. Together, we burst out in laughter. This was crazy! "God Joe, I want you so bad" she whispered as she wiped her lipstick from my face.

"I've really missed you, Kelly" I whispered back.

She ran her hand across the still very hard front of my slacks and said with a giggle, "Yeah, I can tell!"

Struggling to regain our composure, we headed down the rest of the stairs and outside to the smoking area.

A couple of software developers that were new to the project were outside smoking. Damn. They eyed us as we sat on an open bench, forcing Kelly and I to maintain a businesslike presence during our break. We spoke softly so they couldn't hear us.

"How are things at home?" I asked.

"They're good, he's feeling much better now. So am I." The sparkle in her blue eyes was unmistakable.

I smiled and said, "You have no idea how much I......"

"Me too" she whispered, interrupting my statement by alluding she felt the same as me. Our thoughts were one.

I reached for my cell. "I've been meaning to give you my phone number." As soon as the words came out she had her phone in her hands.

"And it is.....?"

We exchanged phone numbers. I didn't need to tell her to be cautious with my number after hours. She was not going to jeopardize my marriage in any way, nor would I do anything to risk hers.

Kelly finished her smoke and we reentered the building at the same time as our 2 new coworkers. Kelly and I shared a quick look, then walked with them into the elevators. Just as well, Staircase C had seen a lot of action for one day.

Friday was the usual flurry of work activity. More meetings than normal, but it was expected because a couple of important new features were nearing completion. The executive team was not good at stowing any patience with our efforts. They weren't strict but they were firm. If we didn't stick to our delivery timelines then the project leads would hear some very strong words, and I was one of the leads.

Due to the current pressing work demands, I was not available for the documentation meeting, nor Kelly's morning and lunchtime breaks. I sent her a text at lunchtime. "Sorry, really hectic day".

"No worries " she replied.

She pinged me around 3:00. "C?"

"On my way!" I looked forward to our every moment with unreal anticipation.

As we approached the back hallway it became apparent that this was not going to be a C day. A maintenance crew was changing ballasts and patching some rough spots on the sheetrock. Kelly looked at me, I shrugged, and we headed over to the elevator. An empty car opened. We stepped inside and I pressed G to send us down to the ground floor. Soon as the elevator door slid shut, I forced Kelly up against the wall, my lips all over hers. Kelly parted her legs. My right leg moved in between hers, pressed tightly against her groin. Just as her moan escaped from her lips between mine, the elevator dinged. We had to compose ourselves immediately before stepping out. We both smirked as we headed outside.

"Here" Kelly said, handing me a tissue as we sat down. I really needed to keep my own stock of wipes. How sweet she was though for thinking of me like this. We shared small talk outside. The pitch of our voices was a little pensive. I would be heading home to my family in a couple hours, she would be leaving in little less than an hour to catch her bus.

Feeling a little subdued, we shared "Have a good weekend" salutations as we headed back inside. We weren't the only people waiting to catch the elevator up, so not even an opportunity for a goodbye kiss.

"See ya Joe!" she said over her shoulder as we exited the elevator.

"Bye Kelly. Have a good one!"

She walked her way, to her desk, I walked the other, to my desk. I didn't see or hear from her again till Monday.

The weekend went agonizingly slow. I couldn't wait for Monday to arrive, to see Kelly again. Nothing bad happened over the weekend. No arguments or short tempers with my wife. The usual activities with my kids. God, I loved them. But time crawled. I was lost in thought several times. Or was it most of the time? Thankfully, no one seemed to notice.

Monday rolled around. Kelly and I resumed our game of desire and passion on company time. It felt so naughty to sneak inside the staircase with her and make out. Instead of fizzling out, our little sessions grew in intensity. We both knew that it would be too risky to our careers to let things go too far in the building, but we pushed the envelope just a little bit more each time. The week went on and we revealed more of our personal lives during our smoke break conversations. I told her about my family, my wife, our dwindling sex life, my kids. It was very comfortable and easy sharing with Kelly.

I learned that Kelly was in her second marriage. She had 2 daughters from her first relationship, both married and moved away. It was an abusive situation with her first spouse, and her current husband Bill sort of saved her from the madness and abuse. They became good friends and when he proposed, she accepted.

Bill was an avid nudist and soon convinced Kelly to join him at the resort. She explained to me that it wasn't sexual, but a naturalist thing. She'd never even been hit on by the guys or women at the resort in their many visits. Kelly enjoyed the freedom of nudism and tried to convince me to try it sometime too. I said maybe, which really meant unlikely. I just didn't know if I could go through with it.

Kelly told me about the tiny apartment she rented in town. She said the neighborhood was a little sketchy but she wasn't afraid. She had a permit to carry a gun and had one in her purse at all times. She hadn't been bothered yet. From what she could tell, the apartment complex was mostly inhabited by students from the small neighboring specialty colleges. She was in a ground floor unit that faced the street. Once out of the cab it was just a few steps till she was inside her apartment. The door was double-deadbolted. She wasn't worried, but of course Bill was, as would I if my sexy wife spent 5 days a week 200 miles from home. They shared Skype chats every single night at exactly 9:30pm to reassure him she was fine. One night she was out with the docs team drinking a little too much a little too late and she missed her 9:30 Skype call. Bill called her cell continuously till she picked up and apologized for being late to the Skype.

Kelly shared about her sex life with Bill too. Once or twice a month she would dress in sexy lingerie, lay on their bed and pleasure herself with toys while Bill watched and got himself off. They hadn't had actual intercourse in a long time. She enjoyed their kinky sessions but, like me, really missed the 'something more' that true sex enhanced in a relationship. Being 2 decades younger than Bill, she still had needs that he wasn't able to satisfy anymore. But she loved him and was not going to leave him, no matter what. I understood completely because my marital situation was the same.

Friday came too quick. It was an extremely productive week for both me and Kelly. Our personal relationship seemed to have a positive effect, an extra juice of motivation, on our efforts in the project. We hugged and kissed for several minutes in the staircase before she left for home. The deep longing in Kelly's eyes was unmistakable. A bit of sadness was evident as well, as we went our separate ways for another weekend apart.

I needed a distraction from thoughts about Kelly and my tortured physical longings this weekend. I asked the family if they'd like to rent a beach house for the weekend, and of course everyone was all in, especially Janet. We lived an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, an easy drive for a getaway. Summer had ended a couple weeks prior, and although the weather was still warm, 80s in the daytime, school had started back up so it was easy to find an available beach house to rent. We all packed and hit the road in less than an hour, checking in before sunset.

All 4 of our kids had girlfriends or boyfriends, who joined us for the weekend too. They were all young adults and got along better than most siblings. We barely saw them all weekend, which left some much-needed alone time for me and the wife. No sex, but it was real nice. We rekindled our relationship in other ways. Long walks on the beach, sitting on the deck, watching the surge of waves come in to shore, barbequing on the inexpensive grill, talking about the kids, our hopes for their futures, lots of holding hands and fresh ocean air. It was nice for all of us, and no one was ready for it to end as Sunday came too fast. The house was still available overnight Sunday, so we rented an extra day. I emailed my boss, informing him that I was taking a vacation day. Our weekend was extended by an extra day, but by Monday afternoon we were all ready to head back home. Tired, happy and hungry, we stopped for dinner at a local seafood house after checking out to help avoid some of the freeway gridlock from a normal work day in the big city.

Back to work on Tuesday. I hadn't thought about Kelly much during the family getaway weekend, but as I drove to the office she was dominating my thoughts. I couldn't think her out of my mind no matter how I tried. I cranked up the car stereo, rolled down the window, made some mental notes of things to check at work, tried to distract those staircase thoughts, but to no avail.

Kelly walked over for our team meeting and my heart started racing. She wore a lovely yellow dress and the biggest, cutest smile when our eyes met.

"Hi Joe" she said when sitting next to me. "Welcome back!"

I greeted everyone and then the meeting flew by. I couldn't keep my eyes off Kelly as she walked back to her desk after the meeting. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" was all I could think. This woman drove me crazy! I eased back into the flow of work. Or tried to. I really did try. I had long moments of failure, daydreaming about you know who, but snapped back out of it, sighed, and recommenced my work.

At 10:00 sharp my cell dinged with an incoming message. "C?"

I was all in. "On my way!" I sent back, my usual reply to her request to break.

The hallway was empty. We went inside the entrance door and paused to listen for the presence of anyone else. Just the 2 of us. We didn't even start to descend the staircase. All over each other. I wrapped her in my arms as we kissed in a mad storm of passion. She was crying with hunger between my lips. We wanted each other so badly. Incredible intensity. But just as quickly the storm passed. We just couldn't afford to get caught, and we were already taking so many risks with our behavior.

As we sat together outside, I could tell Kelly had something she needed to say. Or ask. She paused for a few moments to gather her thoughts.

She started by asking, "Are you able to go home late after work sometime?"

"Oh fuck yes", I thought. But instead I said, "I think so. Why?"

Her eyes danced with desire. "Bill is feeling much better and is planning on an overnight hunting trip with a few of his buddies. He'll probably leave first thing Friday morning and be home Saturday evening."

Her breath was noticeably deeper as she paused for a second, then continued.

"I told him I might stay here in town to do some shopping Friday night, and catch the Saturday morning bus home." She looked at me expectantly, hoping for the response I was about to give.

"Do you want to get together Friday evening?" I asked.

"Can you, Joe?" Kelly said. "I don't want you to take any chances."

My mind was already in bed with Kelly. "I'll check and let you know tomorrow."

She smiled. She knew I would be available. And so did I. I would do anything to be available for this opportunity. "He'll still want to skype with me at 9:30", Kelly said. "You can have me till 9:00."

Just like that. "You can have me" she said. And I knew she meant it exactly how she said it. I could have her.

Kelly took a long puff from her cigarette and stubbed it out. "Let's go back in" she concluded.

Too much ground floor activity for us to take the staircase back upstairs, and probably just as well. The rest of the workday flew by. I joined Kelly for her lunchtime and afternoon breaks but we took the elevator. Conversation was easy but we didn't discuss the possibilities of Friday night again. It was already out there and up to me now to confirm.

For the past 3 years I'd been home after work regular as clockwork, so Janet was fine with me going out for a while with "some coworkers" after work on Friday.

"What's the occasion?" Janet asked.

"Nothing special" I said, "Just some much-needed work-stress relief" She had no idea how much relief I needed.

"When do you think you'll be home?" I told her probably around 10:00 or so. She said she might go out with a couple of her friends but I barely heard or understood her words. My mind was already dreaming about Friday.

When I told Kelly during our mid-morning break on Wednesday that I was clear for Friday night, she visibly exhaled a deep breath. In my mind I had already played out how the evening might go, and one thing I felt might be a necessity would be some extra time together. If I got off work at 5:00, we had a drink and maybe some dinner, by the time we made it to her apartment we would only have a couple of hours before I'd need to leave. Not enough time. Fuck no. Not nearly enough.

"Does anyone know you're staying in town Friday night?" I asked Kelly.

"No" Kelly replied. She might have been a little confused by the question, so I continued.

"So as far as anyone knows you can still leave work around 4:00 like you normally do on Friday?"

She smiled as she knew where I was going with this. "I can get off around 3:00, Joe" she said. "When can you get off?" The hidden innuendo of her question wasn't lost on me.

"Here's what we'll do...." I said, as I laid out for how we would connect.

There was a quaint little tex-mex restaurant a couple blocks from Kelly's apartment. I'd get off work early Friday, around 2:45. She would leave a few minutes after me so as to not raise any eyebrows or suspicions with our coworkers. I'd drive to the restaurant and she would take a cab there. Then we would ride together to her apartment.

"Perfect" Kelly said. "Do you want to have a drink there, Joe?"

I thought that would be a good idea. Not that we needed to loosen up any inhibitions, but just to unwind a little. "Sounds good to me" I replied.

We headed back inside and resumed work. An hour later I received a text from Kelly. "No more staircases this week. Everything waits till Friday. Agree?"

"Oh crap" I thought. But then I realized that would be the best thing for us. Letting the anticipation build without letting off any emotional steam. It would drive me crazy but I agreed. "Deal" I simply replied.