The After Party

"Good Night, Samantha." Steve said as he watched her slide in to her car. His stomach tighten as he felt a surge of desire as her dress slid up high enough to expose underwear that matched her dress. He stood there and watched as she drove away thinking about the dance they shared. The feel of her skin still fresh on his hands. The closeness of her body as they danced still warming him. He was still deep in thought as she turned the corner and his phone range, jarring him from his lucid dream. It was the pilot from the helicopter. "Kent, what's up."

"Boss, I think your date dropped her makeup thingy. It was sitting by the back seat." Steven remembered her checking her makeup before getting out for the party. She must have dropped it trying to put it back in her purse.

"I am still by the helipad I will come back over and grab it." After grabbing Sam's Compact he headed home. He got to the first light and decided he would just deliver the mirror back tonight. "Not to be cliché", he thought, "but maybe she would invite me in for a drink." He smiled at the possibilities. Steven was just beginning to realize that Sam had quit. He had gotten so used to seeing her everyday not to mention all the good she did for him. He knew she was underutilized and it was only time before she was back to leading a sales team. He was still trying to figure out what it all would mean as he pulled up to Sam's flat. He found a spot to park the car where he thought is would be safe for the night. Pulling his tie off he unbuttoned the top button of his formal shirt. Left his car making sure it locked and bounded up the steps to Sam's door. As he was about to ring the bell he could see through a small gap in the curtains into Sam's living room. He froze. There was a man in the center of the couch. Sam was sitting on the couch too. She was sitting on the left cushion and her legs were stretched out over the man's legs and her feet resting on the empty cushion. She was dressed in a simple t-shirt, slightly exposing the same underwear he saw before. She was sipping from a stemmed glass. There was that jealousy feeling again. Steven paused long enough to see Sam talk away to the guy on the couch between sips. He was not saying anything just listening. Steven was sure she was telling him all about their evening. Who was this guy? Sam never said anything about him. Maybe this is why she took the job? Maybe when she said goodbye it was more finite than he took it? As his hope for continuing what had been an amazing evening collapsed into a tangled mess of emotion, Steven quietly pushed the compact through the letterbox in the door. He took one last look at Sam still visiting with the mystery man on the couch and said out loud, as he turned to leave, "Goodbye, Samantha."