EMOTIONAL DISTANCE

April

There hadn't been any new deaths in Connecticut for over a month but it still felt weird to Adrienne to be in a room full of people. She kept a safe distance away from everyone and though she told herself it was because of paranoia, it was really just nerves.

With cases down, lockdown rules eased to allow groups of over fifty to meet indoors. Her office decided to throw a party. It was the first time she'd meet anyone at her job face to face. The managers looked and dressed exactly like their Slack profile pictures, but the other coworkers looked completely different.

"Adrienne, right?" asked a woman who looked like she was around the same age as her. Clearly Adrienne looked the same as her picture. It's not like she stuck out as a new hire since there were so many during the pandemic.

"I'm Kaitlyn. I work in Creative."

"Nice to meet you."

Kaitlyn took an exaggerated breath and surveyed the conference room. It was a long, windowless area with steel beams that gave the place an industrial vibe. "So strange, isn't it?" she asked.

"Very," Adrienne agreed. Her phone buzzed. It was only a text, but she gestured to the phone and said, "Excuse me", and walked towards the wall. She made sure she had a concerned look on her face as she read Paul's simple response.

sexy!! 😍

She had sent Paul a modest selfie in the bathroom stall at a high angle that would make her face look thinner.

Paul was supposed to be writing an essay for his English class final but the picture distracted him. It showed off the cleavage in her low-cut, navy dress. He locked his door and masturbated to the thought of cuming on her chest.

Afterward he texted her, can I come over later?

He stared at his phone waiting for a response. After five minutes, he tried to finish his work but his eye kept lingering on the phone. He picked it up and his thumb automatically took him to Instagram, Twitter, and then back to Instagram, before checking his messages again.

Hello??

Adrienne heard the vibration in her purse but she didn't answer it. She was standing in a circle of co-workers all around her age, some slightly older with kids they were ecstatic to leave at home with a babysitter. She wondered what they'd think if they knew that she was sleeping with a 19 year old.

One of the Sales guys was an ex-MMA fighter and claimed he had a talent of guessing someone's weight just by looking at them. None of the new hires wanted to play along except for Adrienne.

"Hmm. You're what, five-four?" He asked.

She was taken aback, given that she was wearing heels. "Yes," she said. The others raised their eyebrows.

"Okay." He stuck his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "I'd say you're a hundred and twenty-eight pounds."

Everyone looked at Adrienne for confirmation. She realized she had no clue how much she actually weighed.

"You're probably right," she said.

The man's face fell. "You don't know?"

She laughed and shook her head, "No!"

Everyone groaned with disappointment and then they all started laughing.

Later that night, Adrienne thought of the incident and giggled to herself.

"What's funny?" Paul asked. He had been kissing her collarbone.

"That tickled," she said. Her breath smelled like wine.

"Sorry," he whispered. He continued down her chest. He had requested that she keep the dress on while he went down on her. He covered the skirt over his head but she pulled it back.

"I like seeing you," she said.

She always wanted to see him. She wanted the lights on. She wasn't uncomfortable with her body like the girls his age were. He loved that about her.

When she came, they tried to have sex but Paul couldn't finish.

"I actually jerked off to your picture earlier," he admitted. He was still inside her.

She sighed. "We don't always have to hook up, you know. I'm fine with just lying here with you."

He got off of her and rolled onto the empty side of the bed.

"Ew," she said. She pulled away the covers to reveal a wet patch.

"I'm sorry."

She laughed. "It was probably me," she said. Get off. "I'll put on new sheets."

Paul helped her change the sheets and sat back on her bed while she took a shower. He hugged his knees to his chest and stared at the wall. He suddenly felt weird being there, like he was a nuisance. He blamed himself for the wet patch, he blamed himself for the shitty sex. Adrienne was at a work party while he was jerking off to her photo like a horny eighth grader.

When she returned from the bathroom, he waited to see what she would say. Part of him expected her to ask him to leave. When she climbed back into bed and asked him to come here, he relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry," he said as she wrapped her arms around him.

She kissed the back of his neck. "Shut up."

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Photo by https://unsplash.com/@antenna