An Office Kiss

I was a little surprised when the man that I loved, the one who was not available, showed up at work looking for me. I stood when I saw him entering my office. He closed the door behind him. The way he looked at me knocked out all the air from my lungs.

‘Sbu,’ I said. The words were barely audible. I cleared my throat and stood up straight. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I spoke to Thando,’ he said, as if that would explain why he was standing before me. He moved to my side of the desk. I moved back slightly, not trusting myself.

‘She told me how you feel about me,’ he said.

Damn Thando, I thought.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter, you have a girlfriend,’ I said.

‘I’m not married,’ he responded. And it was true, but it did not matter because they were such a high profile couple.

He lifted his hand and caressed my cheek. I leaned in for a moment. I felt drawn to him as if an unseen force was pushing me closer to him and at the same time pulling us together.

He cupped my face into his large yet soft hands. He leaned closer and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and my lips parted slightly. I lost control of my faculties at this point. He kissed the tip of my nose and then each of my cheeks. His breath was warm and so sweet against my skin.

He leaned in to kiss my lips, his own lips parted. I leaned in. We slowly moved our lips closer together. As our lips were about to touch, a loud knock jolted me into reality. I jumped back a little. And the spell was gone.

I cleared my throat. ‘Come in,’ I said.

Lungi, an intern with the magazine came in. She looked at the two of us. We looked like two teenagers who’d been caught by our parents making out. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I rubbed them together, then I stuffed them into my pockets. I took them out and straightened my top.

Lungi raised an eyebrow and smiled.

‘Yes, Lungi, what can I do for you?’ I asked.

She quickly dropped some envelopes on my in box. ‘These came for you,’ she said. She reached for the door. She turned to look at us one more time and then she left.

All the blood I had in my body rushed to my face. My heart was racing so fast. I couldn’t believe how close we’d been to getting caught. I took a seat behind the desk and turned all business like. I looked up at him.

‘This cannot happen again,’ I said.

‘Why not?’ he asked. ‘I like you and you obviously feel the same way.’

‘Because you have a girlfriend. I don’t wanna be known as the woman who wrecked your happy home. Because I’m not that woman.’

‘I’ll break up with her,’ he said.

‘Well, until then I think we shouldn’t see each other.’

He leaned closer to the desk and stared into my eyes. ‘You won’t reject me once I’m single and available again, would you?’

I hesitated long enough for him to move away. He laughed and shook his head.

‘You’re only interested in me because I’m not available. And for a moment there, I thought you had feelings for me.’

He left my office. I watched him walk away and I wondered whether he was right. Was I only attracted to him because he was unavailable? Would I still feel the same way once he was single again? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I couldn’t guarantee that I’d still have these feelings once he was back in the market. I went back to work and willed myself to forget about him, as I was sure I would never see him again.