Keep Still

Cherry Leung from Singapore got my job.

I am not a man who holds any grudges though - there was nothing she did to cause it.

It was a decision made by the company management, who were keen to explore the apparently 'new and exciting opportunities in the Asian markets', and who announced that the whole corporate development strategy should be refocused around Asia. The bad news for me though, was that many of our business functions that were currently undertaken in Europe - London where I was based, Paris, Frankfurt and Geneva - would be moved to East Asia, and be housed in Shanghai, Hong Kong or, as in Cherry's case, Singapore. The company promised to find me an equivalent role somewhere else in London. Do you believe that? Nobody else does either.

And so a delegation of our Asian colleagues arrived in Europe for a two month 'familiarisation and hand over' period, at the end of which there was to be a huge conference at a hotel in Switzerland, where the delegates were expected to make presentations to the executives about what they had learned during the period, what issues they perceived, and what resources and funding they would require in order to implement the new vision that had been handed down.

Cherry was allocated to work with me for that period, and take all my work back with her to Singapore.

I found her to be a highly capable and intelligent computer systems manager, and she had clearly done a lot of homework before she even arrived. She already knew more about our systems, what they did and how they worked, than many of the programmers and systems analysts I had worked with over a ten year career. There wasn't anything I could teach her about how to be a systems manager, but at least I was able to warn her about some of the programming that at first sight may have looked inefficient and messy, but which we knew would have a knock-on effect elsewhere if we tried to clean it up. I didn't want Cherry to be the butterfly that flaps its wings and causes a computer systems tornado on the other side of the world. That happened often enough already, there was no need for us to add to it.

Cherry herself was a very pleasant, petite lady with a charming personality. She wasn't a classic beauty, but she had a dimple in her smile which was very attractive and completely lit up her whole face. She had shoulder length glossy black hair, often tied at the back into a neat bun - but sometimes left loose around her shoulders, and she had a nervous habit of pulling strands and tucking them behind an ear.

And she was always a consummate professional, never once letting her immaculate composure slip. We got to know each other very well over those two months. We forged a great working relationship, but neither of us ever tried to venture beyond that. We would take it in turns to buy each other morning coffee, and most days we would have lunch together. I found I really enjoyed those lunches. We chatted happily - mostly about our lives outside of work, and we always seemed to have so much in common to talk about. We were both keen singers and sang in small community choirs. We both ran a Parkrun every Saturday. We had both been married for fifteen years with stable relationships, but which had settled into a steady routine. We both had two teenaged children and we discussed how we were each coping with the problems that they bring. I really enjoyed her company during those lunches, and I knew I would miss them when she returned home. And although we were the same age, she made me feel young again.

But all good things must come to an end eventually, and after two wonderful months she and I were both booked on a flight to Switzerland for the final conference. Cherry was appointed to make a presentation on behalf of our department, and I was there just to observe all the other presentations and to answer any questions that might arise. The format of the event was for a mid morning start on day one, which allowed people to fly in from all over Europe; then the presentations all day; and a final celebration dinner in the evening. Day two was free time, allowing us to make use of the hotel spa or golf course, before we all returned to the airport for flights home. And for Cherry, that meant home to Singapore.

We flew in together on the same flight from London, but frustratingly the flight was delayed by a couple of hours. We eventually arrived in Switzerland just about in time, and checked into the hotel, but then discovered that the rooms we had been allocated were not even on the same floor; and so as I exited from the lift I wished her good luck with her presentation, not expecting to see her for a while.

I found my room quickly and unpacked just my wash bag and a few essential clothes, because I knew I didn't have much time before the presentations were due to start. I heard a lot of thumping and banging going on from the room above, I guess someone was rearranging the furniture in the room up there, or checking for bed bugs possibly. But unexpectedly there was knock on my door, and Cherry came bursting in.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed, walking around and examining everything in the room. "Your room is so much better than mine. I have a tiny little room with a bed, a wardrobe, almost no space, and a view of the back of an office block - and yet you have a view of the lake, acres of space, and you even have a sofa and a coffee table! I would love to be spending the night in this room instead of my own."

Another loud scraping noise sounded from the room above, and without thinking I replied "I worry that if you tried to spend the night in this room, you wouldn't get very much sleep."

A look crossed her face, which I initially thought to be delight, but then I realised this was just a prelude to her trying terribly hard not to show that she was upset. She simply turned around, went back out into the corridor, and without another word, closed the door firmly behind her.

The ambiguity of what I had just said dawned on me, and I was mortified. Did she think I had just made an unsolicited sexual advance? You really can't do that these days. "No!" I shouted at the closed door. "Cherry, NOOO!" I ran to open the door, but she was gone. It was too late, the damage was done, and with the presentations about to start, I didn't have time to chase after her and apologise.

I had clearly offended her, and I worried about how badly she would take it. Would she report my inappropriate remark to Human Resources? I sat through the morning presentations in constant fear. Every time I felt my phone vibrate with the announcement of a new email, it started a panicked reaction, in case it was from HR asking me to come to an interview and bring my letter of resignation with me. But what was worse, I thought that I had spoiled everything and that Cherry and I would no longer be friends.

I didn't see Cherry all morning, and when we broke for lunch I couldn't find her. I found out that her presentation would be the first one after lunch, so I returned to the conference room early to make sure I got a front row seat. At the commencement of the afternoon session, our host gave her a very warm introduction, and suddenly there she was in front of me, striding to the podium confidently. She had changed into a very smart outfit - a black jacket, a crisp, white, button down shirt, a knee length skirt to match the jacket, sheer black hosiery, and smart black high heel shoes with an ankle strap. She looked fabulous. My eyes traveled back up to her face, but with alarm I found she was looking straight at me, watching me checking her out. Oh no. This could not be any worse. But, as already noted, her immaculate composure never slips, and I was totally unable to read in her face what she was thinking.

Her presentation went well. Of course it did. I was so proud of her, despite the fact that she was probably seething with rage inside.

Eventually the afternoon presentations came to an end, but by then the sessions were severely over-running, and we were ushered straight into the dining room for the evening celebration dinner. With some relief I discovered I had been seated on a table of six people. I was between two gentlemen, one from Hong Kong and one from Shanghai. That was OK, I had been to both those places so I knew there were things I could talk about. On the other side of the table were two of my European colleagues from Paris and Geneva, but between them was an empty seat. I tried to read the name card upside down. Oh no, of course it was, how could fate be any more cruel? Directly opposite me was the place card of Mrs C. M. Leung from Singapore. She looked at me curiously, as she belatedly came to her seat.

My two neighbours were very good companions and we chatted amiably all through the first course. Cherry though, was the star on our table. She was friendly, charming, witty, and delighted us all. She told a funny story about an employee who couldn't access the data he had stored on a thumb drive. He thought it might be corrupted, and he asked Cherry if she could help. "Sure", she said, "can you copy it, and send me the copy? So he did - he put it in the Xerox machine and sent me a photocopy". Her eyes sparkled and danced as she basked in the admiring laughter from everyone at the table.

She was utterly captivating.

But a little later, as the conversations continued, I felt something on my leg below the table, something was pushing up the leg of my trousers, and I felt nylon covered toes gently stroking up and down my shin. What the...? I looked around but couldn't see what was happening. Cherry was not looking at me at all, and was still in animated conversation with the French gentleman. Could someone else be doing this? Surely not. Is she goading me? Mocking me? The stroking stopped, and was not repeated.

At last the dinner was finished, and I returned to my room as quickly as I politely could. I just wanted to get into the shower and wash away the whole day. But no sooner had I entered my room and turned the lights on, than I heard a noise behind me. When I turned round, there was Cherry, standing in the doorway.

"Cherry, I..." I began. But then I didn't know what to say. What could I say to fix this? Far too many things has gone wrong for me today. She came to my rescue.

"Hush," she said, "There's something I want to do here before I have to return home, and I shall need you to help me."

"Okay, fine, I'll be with you shortly. But first I want to change and have a shower. Why don't we get together after that?"

"That's exactly what I had in mind" she replied, stepping inside and pushing the door closed with the back of her foot. "You go right ahead, I'll wait for you here." She walked right into the room, reached down and removed her smart shoes, then sat on the sofa and curled her legs up beneath her. Her warm, dark brown eyes turned to me. "I'll sit here on your lovely sofa. I don't have one. Please - take your time."

Well, okay, perhaps concepts of modesty and privacy are different in Singapore.

I took my time undressing. I stripped down to my boxer shorts and carefully folded every item or hung them up on a hanger. Cherry pretended not to watch me.

I didn't dare remove the shorts with Cherry in the room, so I walked into the en suite bathroom and closed the door. Only then did I remove the shorts. I walked around the glass shower screen, and entered the walk-in shower. I turned the heat control to hot, and stood well back as I turned the tap to start the flow. The water turned hot quite quickly, so I turned it down to a more comfortable level, and then stood fully beneath the cascading water. For half a minute I simply stood still and let the water thunder against my skin. I took a handful of shampoo, and started washing and rinsing my hair, and then washed my face with some shower gel.

The shower screen was by now becoming a little cloudy from the steam condensing on it, but although I couldn't see anything in detail through it I did notice the bathroom door open, and Cherry came in. "I need a shower too. Are you happy for me to join you in there?"

Well, was I happy for that? Surely this is just two work colleagues having a shower and bit of fun together - it needn't mean the end of two marriages. No harm can come of this.

Right?

"Yes, fine." That's all it took, the red line was crossed that easily.

Cherry had already removed her jacket, but now began to unbutton and remove her shirt, revealing a very pretty, lacy lilac bra. I continued to watch through the cloudy shower screen as she placed the shirt on the counter next to the basins. She unzipped her skirt, which fell the floor and she stepped out of it. Beneath it, she had a white slip, which now joined the skirt on the floor, revealing matching lilac panties.

And, oh joy, I could see enough to realise that the sheer black hosiery turned out to be a pair of hold-up stockings. She carefully placed the skirt and slip on top of her shirt on the counter, and then leant backwards with her bottom propping her up against the counter while she hooked her index fingers into the top of one of the stockings. She lifted her foot, and slowly slid the stocking down over her knee, down over her calf, over her heel, and off, revealing pretty toes with pale pink nail polish. This was then repeated with the other stocking which joined the first one on the floor.

She stood up straight again, turned to face the mirror, reached behind her back and unclasped the bra. She pulled the straps forward over her shoulders and the bra joined the stockings on the floor. And finally, she hooked her thumbs into the waist band of the lilac panties and pushed them down to the floor too. She collected all the fallen items from the floor, placed them on the counter, and then walked around the shower screen, allowing me to see her body in detail for the first time.

Oh boy. Her breasts were perfect - petite, but gently curved into a mesmerising shape. A flat tummy below them, and below that, a thin triangle of black hair at the top of two very shapely legs.

She walked straight into the stream of water and stood right in front of me with her back to me, took a handful of shampoo and then washed and rinsed her hair.

"Turn around," she commanded, "and let me wash your back", and of course I complied. She took a handful of shower gel, and I felt both her soapy hands rubbing the gel into my back, massaging my shoulders and neck, and slowly working in circles down to the bottom of my spine. She took another handful of gel, and washed down my legs, front and back, with both hands, from the very top of my thighs right down to my feet. Then the same on both my arms. She removed the shower head from its holder on the wall and used its spray to rinse my arms, back and legs from top to toe.

She stood up straight, replaced the shower head, then turned her back to me again. "Now do mine please."

I took some shower gel and copied her actions. After rubbing in circles down her back and arms, I felt my hands trembling as I gently washed down her legs. I grabbed the shower head quickly to rinse her skin.

"Perfect" she said, turning to face me. "Now do my front." Oh heck. "With both hands."

I gently started applying gel in circles, starting at her shoulders and working down. There was no escape, I had to continue gently circling with the palms of both hands right over those magnificent breasts, over her tummy, and finally my fingers pushed down softly over the triangle of hair and my palm bent around to wash underneath. Her knees slightly buckled.

"I don't like being bare down there," she said. "It makes me feel like a little girl again. Sexuality is such a uniquely adult experience, it doesn't make sense to do something that makes me feel like a child. I hope you are not disgusted."

"Not even slightly. Cherry. You are unbelievably pretty. All over."

I rinsed her front, letting the water spray over those delicate areas. She took the shower head from me and hung it back on the wall.

"Okay, so now it's my turn to wash your front. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes, please do."

She started gently rubbing in small circles across my shoulders and chest, down over my tummy, and inevitably further down, to my penis which by now was fully erect. With both hands she washed all around and under it, tickling me under my balls as she went there.

Cherry rinsed my front, replaced the shower head on the wall - and turned off the water.

Playtime was over.

I walked out of the shower, grabbed one of the bath towels and handed it to Cherry. She wrapped it around her middle and tucked one corner in above her breasts. With the other towel I dried myself roughly and quickly, put on one of the two fluffy white dressing gowns, and opened the bathroom door.

"Take your time Cherry, I'll be right out here."

"Thank you, I won't be long."

I closed the bathroom door and busied myself unpacking the clothes that had been left in my suitcase all day. Occasionally I could still hear her as she used the hair dryer, cleaned her face and brushed her teeth.

She came out from the bathroom wearing the other fluffy dressing gown, tied round the waist, and then sat back down on the sofa with her legs curled under her again.

I went into the bathroom to clean my own teeth, and when I came out the main lights were off, just leaving one of the bedside lamps lit. Cherry was back on the sofa.

"Well done for turning the main light off. It feels much cosier in here. And thanks also for joining me in the shower, I really enjoyed it."

"Oh thank heavens, it's such a relief relief to hear you say that. I was worried that this was not what you wanted at all. Ever since we started having lunch together I have wanted to get closer to you, but you were always so completely professional that I convinced myself that our friendship could never be more than that. And yet, this morning you said something that implied that you wanted to keep me awake all night, and at first I was thrilled by that. But I immediately realised you didn't really mean it the way it sounded, and I then felt utterly devastated that my hope was dashed. I regret walking away from you this morning, and avoiding you all day, but I didn't want my face to give away how disappointed I was that we were not going to say goodbye to each other in the way I had hoped."

"Oh, Cherry, I have been feeling exactly the same thing. I can't bear the thought that we are going to have to part. I am going to miss you terribly. It has been torture being with you every day, and knowing that it was all going to come to an end. But what made you realise that I was also hoping for us to get together?"

"Well, the first clue was the beginning of my presentation, where I saw the first signs of real desire cross your face as I walked to the podium. And then at dinner I couldn't believe the look in your eyes as you watched me chatting at the table. You couldn't take your eyes off me. But the clincher came when I tried the old footsie-under-the-table trick. Your face was a picture - a mixture of utter confusion, but mostly, sheer pleasure! That's when I knew you had been hiding your feelings from me these last few weeks. I advise you never to try playing poker."

"Oh, no! Am I really that easy to read?"

I sat down next to her on the sofa, and turned to face her.

She looked so warm and cosy in a fluffy white robe, I longed to take her into my arms and kiss her. My red line had already been crossed. But how do you kiss your friend for the first time?

I stretched out my arms towards towards her, to offer her a hug. She had the option then of not responding, but she uncurled her legs from under her, and shuffled towards me, putting her own arms around me as she returned the hug. She leant against me and her head nestled onto my shoulder as I put my arm around her and pulled her in closer.