As the rain pounded down on her window shield, severely obstructing her vision of the cars ahead, Eva wondered if she were destined for an untimely end because she just couldn’t seem to keep focused on the road. There was just too much flashing through her mind as if it were permanently stuck on rewind.What a day. Work was a disaster. She should have known. It would have been better to call in sick, take a mental health day, whatever. She was so hopped up on Sudafed that she shouldn’t have been allowed to fake it at work today, let alone operate heavy machinery; a description that she figured her car would accurately fit, even if it was only a SmartCar. Anyway, the jig was up, her cover blown. Any fragment of control she had over her environment evaporated into a thin vale of dust.
Years of a carefully nurtured reputation of being a she-dragon to be feared...gone. It wasn’t a easy or natural disposition for her, but it was a necessary one in order to survive. She was in a leadership role in a largely male-driven industry, with countless frustrated and jaded direct reports, some who have worked more years than she’s been alive. Respect from this crowd was not easily won.
But she’d managed to earn it. That is until today. Now it’s all over. They’ve figured her out. They now know the truth and all of her power is gone forever. Now they know, that underneath it all, Eva is really just a romantic fool.
It wasn’t her fault. Usually things are much busier, manic really. But today was different. Today, it was Spring Break. Half of the office was away, and the clients didn’t seem to be dropping by. The phone stopped ringing, the emails stopped popping up, and her office door stopped revolving. Dangerous thing,….an idle mind.
So maybe it was the Sudafed, or maybe it was the down time. Either way, Eva allowed herself the luxury of a chance to daydream a little and have some fun. Lately, she’d been really enjoying the process in getting to know someone new, and even though it was very much in the early stages, it had that spark! The kind of spark that stayed with you to a point of distraction. So since she wasn’t able to beat it, she decided, what the hell, run with it. She couldn’t help herself.
This potential new beau had a magnificently developed playful spirit, one that Eva seemed to respond to in a very playful way of her own. There was no shortage of little daydreams to draw upon. Fond of the written word, Eva decided to randomly type her thoughts down on her laptop, letting the ideas form on their own as they spilled out of her gray matter. At least that way, she could look like she was working hard, instead of hardly working. In the end, it was her musings that lead to her eventual undoing.
Starting off by allowing herself to imagine their next meeting, Eva’s mind drifted to the sensory elements of attraction first. She pictured him moving towards her with the masculine elegance of confidence. She imagined the tiny crinkles in his eyes as his face lit up with his smile at the sight of her. She could even almost actually smell the light musky and sweet scent of his cologne as he put his arms around her as they came together. Then, drifting deeper and deeper into her thoughts, Eva imagined all the things that would race through her mind causing her knees to buckle while giving into the pleasure of his embrace.
His light and breezy mannerisms put all of Eva’s nerves at ease. Settling in to enjoy his company and conversation, she thought about to all the things she’d love to experience with him. Eva had always found laughter to be the strongest aphrodisiac, and true to form, his wily wit has having its way with her now.
As he rambled on about some adventure or another, she found herself sliding over a little closer to him. Taking advantage of a chance to laugh heartedly at a joke, she placed a hand flirtatiously on his arm. However, all at once, the feeling his biceps under the tips of her fingers momentarily overcame her as a wave of prickly little shivers raced up her spine. She let go, as imperceptibly as she could, and caught her breath. But the reaction had not gone unnoticed. Her friend enjoyed the affect that he seemed to have on Eva and he took the chance to capitalize on it. With a mischievous grin, he reached over to lightly touch her face and say, “Is it warm? You look a little flushed”
Trying as she might to save a little face and regain some power back, she put on her best coy expression and unswervingly stared into his eyes. “No, handsome, I’m fine. The temperature’s just right the way it is.”
As she reached out her hand towards him to pull him in for a kiss, she felt those prickly shivers come back. But this time, she was unfettered and determined on her goal. With lips locked, and the lingering scent of his sweet cologne, Eva felt her knees buckle once again, which was truly something remarkable since she was already sitting down.
Then, Eva’s friend started to whisper sweet suggestions in her ear; suggestions of how he’d like to go about turning the temperature up just a little bit more. Right then, right as she was losing strength by the second learning about his various warming techniques, that’s when it happened.
Her assistant walked into her office and loudly said, “God Eva, are you okay? You’re bright red.”
As if jerked away from a deep sleep by the sounding of an air-raid siren, Eva had to take a moment to determine where she was and get her bearings. It must have only been nanoseconds, but it was enough for Eva to realize where her mind had been. Feeling the deep flush of a crimson red burn in her face, Eva tried to quickly maneuver her computer screen to a harmless, everyday application. But in doing so, she accidentally hit the "Print" button, sending her lusty musings to the shared printer, which sat more than 15 meters away.
Jumping up from her chair, racing to rescue her private ramblings from unauthorized visitors, Eva tripped on the corner of her desk and lost precious time. Looking up from the floor, she watched in agony as one of the more chauvinistic Lawyers in her office picked up the sheet and glanced at it with curiosity. As Eva leapt to her feet and made for the printer, she could tell it was too late since he was already thoroughly engrossed. As she tried to feign calm and a casual interest in getting her printouts back, he kept her at bay with one strong arm held out at her shoulder. As he remarked loudly for all to hear “Now this is definitely more interesting than what the Canadian Bar Review’s putting out these days” he handed the printout to his Legal Assistant. At that point, Eva had to admit defeat. It was over. Her daydreams, public property. Her she-dragon reputation, up in smoke. She’d be lucky if they weren’t copied and sent throughout the entire Firm.
As the sound of the rain started to reappear, she realized she was in her car on her way home, still at significant risk of plowing into the cars in front of her if she didn’t get a grip. Practicing some deep breathing in order to calm her nerves and seriously considering a name change and a move to the UK, she pulled into her drive and parked the car. Walking up to her front door, in deep thought, wondering how things could possibly turn around for her,…there he was. Mr. Mischievous, standing right smack in front of her with that same roguish grin that she’d imagined only hours earlier, with a single rose. Once again crinkling his eyes, he leaned into kiss Eva and then said, “So how was your day?”
Eva, caught somewhere between the horror of her day, and the keen remembrance of her daydream, she looked him in the eyes and said “Well, it’s definitely looking up.”
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