Susan smiled and leaned in closely. "I heard that something happened, but I never heard the whole story."
"Oh, I was in the room!" Walter said.
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah! It was my first meeting with upper management after my promotion. We were in the big conference room, and we had the client on speakerphone."
"What happened?"
"It was a tense conversation. We had to delay a delivery by a week due to a shortage at one of our suppliers. Sam was trying to calm them down, but they were angling for a discount."
"Did he give it to them?"
"He didn't have a chance," Walter explained. "Carl jumped in, and things just went crazy."
"What happened?"
"Well, apparently he knows their VP of marketing, some woman named Doris."
"So he was trying to leverage that relationship?"
"Yeah, at least I think that was the intent. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an epic screw up."
"Oh, no! What happened."
"He gets on the phone and calls the woman 'Lacy'. - 'Hey, Lacy! It's me, Carl. We used to work together at Stemmfeld.'"
"Did she respond?"
"No, it was like total silence on both sides of the call. And then he turns to Sam and says, "We used to call her Lacy because she wears lace underwear."
When she didn't respond, he turned to Sam and said, "I used to call her Lacy, because she always wore lace underwear."
"Oh, my God!" shrieked Susan.
Walter was laughing too hard to talk now. He just shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"He did NOT say that!" Susan exclaimed in disbelief.
"Oh yes he did!" Walter whispered between chuckles.
"What happened?"
"Oh, well, there was a pause..."
"I bet!" Susan said as she let out a loud laugh. Walter laughed with her.
"So, Doris, finally comes onto the call and says, 'I think we'll need to take this off line and reschedule the call.' Sam said, 'Okay', and they hung up."
"Did he say anything to Carl?"
"No! Je just got up from the table and walked out without a word."
"Oh my God, that is hilarious!"
"Hey, it's getting late," Walter said. "Do you still want to see those pictures?"
"Sure!"
Walter signed the bill and placed the receipt carefully in his wallet. Susan watched him attentively as the two of them rose from the table in a coordinated movement. They walked through the hotel lobby toward the west elevator bank. Neither spoke on the ride to the eighth floor.
"Sorry, the place isn't very big," Walter said as he opened the door and turned on the nearest light.
Susan placed her purse on the nightstand. "It's nice."
"There's a good view."
"Ooh! I think I'll check that out!"
She opened the curtains but had trouble seeing past the glare on the windows. "Hey, can you turn out the light for a minute?"
"Sure!" Walter turned out the light and walked carefully through the dark to stand beside her.
"I love the mountains!" Susan said.
"Yeah, it's amazing!" Walter agreed. "I'll have to plan to do some mountain biking on the next trip."
"You should!"
Walter stepped away from the window and turned on a lamp. "Well, we have the world's smallest couch, or we can sit on the bed."
"The bed's fine," Susan said. "It's probably more comfy."
Walter pulled the iPad from his backpack. The two of them sat on the edge of the mattress as he searched through his photo galleries. "Ah, here we go!" as he found the photos of the bike race.
Susan leaned in close to get a better view. There was no space between them now. "How long did you train for the race?"
"Well, I train all the time for shorter distances," Walter explained. "But it took me about three months to build up my mileage."
"That takes a lot of dedication!"
"Yeah," said Walter. He noticed that Susan's hand was now resting gently on his thigh. "Luckily, we had good weather as I was training."
"I'm sure that makes a difference."
Walter leafed through the photos showing each one for a few seconds.
"Ooh, I like this one!" Susan said. As she pointed, she deliberately caressed his arm.
He turned toward her slightly and became aware that she was facing him. Their lips came together in a single instinctive motion. He kissed her gently and passionately. She responded to each subtle movement as though they had known each other forever. He felt her raven hair against his face. He didn't want to stop.
Walter set the tablet beside him on the bed and caressed Susan's cheek with his left hand. She turned and climbed onto his lap, now facing him fully and straddling his thighs. He slipped her denim jacket off and let it drop to the floor exposing a silky black camisole.
She ran her fingers through his hair as he explored her body with his hands. The camisole had a distinctively feminine feel that excited his senses. He glanced down at her full breasts but stopped short of caressing her there. Instead, he wrapped his right arm firmly around her waist and leaned back onto the bed, pulling her down on top of him.
She kissed him from above and let the tips of her breasts rub against his lean, muscular chest. Walter caressed her thighs through the stretch fabric of the black leggings that wrapped her bottom so exquisitely.
Susan sat up and began to remove the camisole. Walter touched her arm gently in a motion that she understood to mean "stop."
"I'm just not sure whether we should be doing this right now," he said, struggling to find the right words.
"I understand," she said in a voice that hinted of distance and disappointment.
"I mean, there's work," he continued.
"And Louise," she added.
"I just think... maybe I need a little more time?"
Susan stood and picked her jacket up off of the floor. "It's okay." She slipped on the jacket. "I had a nice time."
"Do you have to go?" he asked.
"It's late," she said as she picked up her handbag.
"Are you sure that you're okay to drive?"
"Don't worry about me."
Susan opened the door and dashed out into the hallway. By the time that Walter reached the door, she was already standing at the elevator waiting for it to arrive.
"Send me a text when you get home?" Walter pleaded from his doorway.
The elevator reached their floor. Susan stepped into the car without responding or glancing in Walter's direction. He thought about going after her but decided that it wouldn't do either of them any good. Susan was hurt. The evening hadn't worked out as she had expected, and nothing that he could say now would change that.
Walter accepted that he wasn't in a position to give Susan what she wanted unless he was willing to destroy his relationship with Louise. Louise had forgiven him for one transgression. He was certain that their life together was over when she learned about his one-night fling with Jo. But she took him back. God bless her, she made the hardest decision that a woman can ever make. She took him back. She gave him her trust. And this is how he re-payed that trust.
Susan was a colleague, someone that he worked with and interacted with regularly. Someone that Louise already distrusted. An affair with her would be unforgivable.
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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