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The golden light of the late afternoon sun lit the coffee shop. It was empty now, tables unoccupied, chairs stacked. The other staff had gone home leaving Philippa and I to clean and close up.
Philippa was an excellent boss - steady, competent, encouraging, compassionate. She liked my meticulous nature, my willingness to learn and work with the other staff members. I had started at the coffee shop ten months before, and we had became friends almost immediately. But over these past three months, our friendship had deepened. We shared more moments together - shop opens and closes, the occasional alcoholic drink, our personal stories and friendly, flirty banner. I liked her. And I suspected she liked me.
“Damn it!”
The curse came from the storage room at the back of the shop. The peculiarities of her accent and pronounciation made me smile. I liked it when she cursed. I rushed to see if she needed assistance.
I found her in the dimly lit, narrow storage room. She stood over a large metal container of chocolate powder, it’s seal partly pulled back, chocolate powder splattered on the floor.
My eyes traveled upwards from the container, over her clothes and body. Her jeans were unmarked. There was chocolate powder in soft splatters on her dark blue tank top and on the sun-kissed skin of her décolletage and neck. My eyes lingered there for a moment, admiring, then continued upwards. There were several splatters on her chin and cheeks.
I let out a quiet laugh as my lips curled into a smile.
“Michael, don’t, it isn’t funny.”
I moved toward her. Still smiling, it was funny.
“The vacuum pressure must have propelled the powder out of the container when I opened it. I dropped it in surprise.” She said.
I crouched down to pick up the container and realised in that moment that she had crouched down as well. Our faces were close in the confined space. She looked beautiful, even if covered in chocolate powder. Her black hair, with a hint of a slight curl was pulled into a pony tail and lay upon her right shoulder. Several strands loosened by a hard day’s work brushed her forehead. The powder resting on her full lips caught my attention, then I met her dark exotic eyes with mine. I felt drawn to her.
I moved closer to her, making sure as not to knock over the container of powder. I brushed some of the powder from her cheek with my fingertips. Neither of us spoke. Then I kissed her. Her lips were soft and tasted like chocolate. She responded, and hungrily kissed me back. We lingered there, enjoying the sensations and our responses to each other. She ran her fingers along my jawline. I liked her touch. Then she slowly pulled away, taking a breath in.
“I liked that.” She said.
“So did I.”
She stood up.
“We should get this mess cleaned up.” Her voice suddenly business-like.
I too stood up.
“What mess do you mean? You or the room.” I said, a smile on my lips. I wanted clarification.
Her black eyes brightened.
“Well....... the room, then me......... if you would like to come back to my house.”
“Sounds perfect.” I replied.
I would more than happily help remove that delicious chocolate powder from her skin.