Private Relations

9

Sarah worked through the rest of her day, only pausing for a quick snack break. She finished combing through all her notes and had already prepared to start calling people next week to set up appearances for Mr. Blake and ways to launch his company in the San Francisco area. She checked the clock on her desk, 5:15 PM, "Well, I might as well get home now," she thought. Sarah powered off her computer and stuffed her work in her briefcase. As she exited her office and made her way to the elevator, she couldn't help but notice how eerily quiet it was for a Thursday. Even the excited receptionist was gone for the day. "How early did everyone leave?" Sarah wondered as she pressed the down button. She entered the elevator car and enjoyed her own private box of peace down to the lobby. Once she exited the building, she knew she was too tired to walk home so Sarah decided to hail a cab. She stuck her hand up in the air as an unoccupied cab was about to approach her office building. She entered the cab, told the driver her address and allowed herself to relax for the duration of the ride. Once she arrived in front of her apartment, she paid and trudged her way up to the front door. Sarah sighed once inside her apartment, not out of sadness but stress and frustration. She was very happy for the opportunity to take the lead on this PR project, but the stress was a lot more than her day-to-day responsibilities. Sarah wasn't a quitter, nor was she going to let this opportunity get the best of her. She made her way back to her kitchen to start making dinner. "Dinner!" she thought as she put her briefcase and purse down on the table. At that moment she remembered that she never told Mr. Blake her address so he could send a car to pick her up for their business dinner. She shuddered at the thought of it being a business dinner, she knew there was an intense attraction for him, he was beautiful and powerful and there was something about the way he carried himself that made her go weak in the knees. Sarah fished around for her cell phone in her purse, when she finally grabbed it her hands were shaking. Everything about this man made her nervous.

She opened her messages and looked at the screen. Christopher Blake's unanswered message stared at her. Her fingers trembled as she proceeded to type up a response. "Pull yourself together Sarah!" she screamed inwardly. "Hello, sorry for the late response, busy day at work. My address is 680 Pine St. –S. Jensen" Sarah forced herself to press send. For what felt like ages went by; she managed to read through her mail, check the newspaper and make some tea and still no reply. Feeling like she missed her window of opportunity, she finally retreated to her room. Sarah needed to really think about what was going on in her head. She headed up the stairs and into her bathroom, it had become her sanctuary recently and every time she became stressed out or feeling uneasy, a shower or hot bath always put her thoughts back on the right track.

She opted for a shower instead of her usual bubble bath, the sound of running water helped her think and while the steam clouded her bathroom, it cleared her mind. Sarah turned on the shower and undressed while the water heated up. Things had been turned upside on her in a matter of weeks. Some for amazing reasons like her engagement and her opportunity to lead at work, but the negative was taking a toll on her. This included her conflicting feelings about Mr. Blake. Sarah had never been one to lust over someone while she was in a relationship. She considered herself to be a faithful person, though this was her first serious relationship in a while. She finally stepped into the shower and let herself relax for the first time in a couple of days. She had been on edge recently about the whole thing and it was taking a toll on her. After about half an hour in the shower, she felt so much better and her mind seemed a little less cluttered. She wrapped a towel around her and went to her room to put on her pajamas. The familiar ding of her phone went off signaling that she had a text. She sauntered over to it and looked at the screen, "Perfect, see you tomorrow –C. Blake," it read.

Sarah's stomach flipped upside down, but a familiar feeling tugged at her nether region. She was excited and scared and just a bit nervous. The feelings that she had just washed away immediately came rushing back. She had to do something about these feelings. She decided to call Tiffany and let her know what was going on. Sarah dialed Tiffany's number and paced her room as the phone rang. "Hello!" Tiffany said excitedly into the phone, "What's going on girlfriend?" Sarah sighed; she didn't know where to begin with all of this. "I need to talk to you about something," she admitted. "What is it?" Tiffany asked. Sarah could hear the extreme confusion in her voice, and she knew she better start explaining before Tiffany pried any further. "It has to do with work," Sarah started, "There's something going on." She sighed and braced herself for what she was about to say out loud, it was the first time these feelings would be voiced somewhere other than her mind. "You can tell me anything," Tiffany assured her. Sarah paced her bedroom and finally let everything spill out of her mouth, "Okay, so I got the leadership position for the PR on a company called Turner Electronics. Well, the CEO was there at the meeting and he was also a guy that I ran into in the elevator at work just a few days before the meeting. Anyways, I'm about to leave from work to meet up with Chad and he calls me into his office; this guy is drop-dead gorgeous by the way, and while I'm in his office he pretty much tells me that he wants to take me to dinner to see "how we'll work together" and I really feel like it's a date and it's scaring me because I'm engaged! But I also find him extremely attractive sexually. I don't know what to do!" Sarah finally let all of her thoughts and emotions out about Mr. Blake. She knew that Tiffany wasn't going to judge her about what she was saying but it was silent on the other side of the phone. She instantly became worried about Tiffany was going to say. "Are you there?" Sarah urged, feeling more anxious than she did when she called. "I'm here girl," Tiffany finally said, "You don't need to freak out though. So, you think a man is attractive, that's fine." "But what about-" Sarah protested. "What about Chad?" Tiffany interrupted. "Yes," she said meekly. "Girl, you love that man more than yourself, it's okay to think that someone is attractive, as long as you don't act on it," Tiffany explained to her. Sarah felt a weight lift off of her shoulders, but she couldn't shake the doubt and guilt in her heart, no matter what her friend told her.

"I understand what you're saying, I just can't shake this feeling," Sarah admitted. Tiffany sighed into the other end of the phone, "Look, Sarah, you're going to be okay. You are completely overthinking this. You have this great opportunity at work that you have been waiting for and it's happening! So what if you must have dinner with this guy, that's nothing. Think about what you're doing for your career!" Sarah was silent for a few moments and let everything sink in. Tiffany was right, she was overthinking this dinner with Mr. Blake. "You're right," she finally said. "I know I'm right, because I am your best friend, and best friends are usually right. Now get some sleep! Call me tomorrow," Tiffany replied. Sarah hung up the phone and set it down on her nightstand to charge. She replayed her conversation and after another moment of reflection, she finally felt better about everything.