Snowed in. (Closed for Apollo Wilde)

[Apollo Wilde]

While he was packing the bags, she sheepishly turned back to the shelf she’d been bent over a few moments ago. He seemed to have all the luck - all she kept turning up were mugs, clip boards, lanyards, cell phone rests: everything that was perfectly worthless in their current situation. Well, they would have been worthless otherwise, but that was neither here nor there. Scooting back over the shelf, she watched him as he spoke.

It was hard not to be distracted by the lines of his body - the way his hands were so sure. She took in a deep breath. It wasn’t quite how she had wanted things to line up, but there was no time like the present. Suddenly, her tongue felt thick in her mouth. For a split second, she humored just yanking his pants down and returning the favor, but that would be doing them both a disservice. She couldn’t keep dancing around it forever.

“So, after you fixed my laptop…” She coughed, looked to the side, took a deep breath, and started again, “After you fixed my laptop,” she forced more confidence into her voice. “Well, lemme back up a bit. I was really surprised when you were the one that came by my desk to fix my laptop - I thought for sure it was gonna be that creepazoid Howard, and then he would have spent most of his time ignoring me to gawk at Ashley across the way. But it was you - and, honestly, I barely spoke because I had no idea what really to say. I was completely tongue-tied. Like, all I could register was how good you smelled.”

Not for the first time, she was pleased that her skin was too dark to clearly show a tell-tale blush. From the heat in her cheeks, she knew she was. It’d been her good luck on that day that she’d worn one of her more flattering pencil skirts - a high waisted, dark gray affair that had mimicked corset lacing up the back. It was just this side of potentially trashy, but the cut and color made it elegant, the lacing a bit of personality. It was one of the few things that she knew she looked majorly hot in, and it had taken all of her willpower not to completely draw attention to her legs by crossing them ridiculously slow. As it was, it had been bad enough that she hadn’t moved as he worked - opting to either have him lean across her (her favorite, coming that close to his warmth and the smell of him), or, finally, when it got too awkward, moving her chair a little to the side so he could squeeze into her cubicle.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I thought I’d be clever and go up to your desk - maybe buy you some non-shitty work coffee or whatever as a thanks. It was excessive, I know, but, I just…I dunno. It seemed like the right thing to do.” She balled her fingers into the loose fabric of her pajama pants, before letting go. “Like a complete idiot, I wandered around the IT floor, just trying to find your desk. Back then, you had a picture of your girlfriend - or who I assumed to be your girlfriend, on your desk. So, you know. I went on back down to my desk and acted like the whole thing never happened. It would have been awkward as shit, you know. And the last thing I needed was to have an HR complaint against me.”

Shrugging, she took his hand, finally, standing up. She’d been more comfortable on the floor while she was talking, but it was time to move on and actually get set up. On her way up, she picked up one of the duffle bags. It’d be fair for her to carry at least one of them. “So, you know. That happened. You just seemed so fucking smart and sure of yourself, and your eyes…they’re such a vivid blue. It’s kind of hard not to stare at you when you talk. But, you know, girlfriend, and then, I was some rando with a busted computer on the most hormonal floor in the whole building. You wouldn’t have taken me seriously.”

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chris took the moment to reassure Dawn when she stood up and took the second duffle bag. He admired her honesty, and the fact that she'd said so much was pretty gutsy. He talked as they walked out of the Marketing offices.

"It's funny, you say I was pretty confident because that's one of the few places I do have it, I can fix a damn laptop, and can keep a multi-million dollar server system up, but talking to women, I'm useless. Something you should know, I actually stole your ticket from Howard's queue. The help desk had actually assigned the ticket to him that day since he was on call. But I knew he was busy on another call, so I swiped it, never told him that it was his to begin with. I loved that outfit you were wearing that day, something about your skirt, and... you were close, but I just thought you were interested in what I was doing." He was babbling now, throwing out thoughts faster than his mind d could fully process. Honestly, Chris was about to say that he couldn't keep his eyes off her ass that day, or any day for that matter. He'd caught himself a few times probably staring at Dawn a bit too long as she'd walked away, or when he'd been working on someone else's computer and she happened to be passing through unaware he was there.

While they crossed the atrium Chris thought about Dawn's comments, they humbled him. He'd never heard someone compliment him the way she did, and well, it put a bit of a spring in his step. Knowing that someone you were very attracted to felt the same way but was afraid to actually act on it was well it didn't make him feel like he was just a face to the people he worked with. As they reached the main staircase he paused, lightly leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't rushed, it wasn't just a slight peck on the lips. It was really a nonverbal way of Chris saying thank you...and he poured a bit of himself into it. When he broke the kiss he started up the staircase, taking Dawn with him.

"Speaking of your visit through IT, I remember the guys had mentioned they'd seen you up there but hadn't mentioned why. Wish you'd stopped by a few days later as that's when all the shit came down. 'She' left and I could've used some company...Besides, I've never heard of anyone getting called to HR for offering to buy a cup of coffee. Hell, even Howard would get a pass, at least the first time."

Shaking off thoughts of that dumbass they quickly reached the 3rd floor, The air was measurably warmer there, and once they'd gotten far away from the main staircase, it was even warmer still. Once they reached the lounge Chris tossed the duffle bag on the floor and walked over to Dawn as she set the other one down. Putting his hands on her hips he looked into her eyes. "You... are not some random woman, and if we ever get out of here I'll buy the coffee, hell if we make it through this weekend I'll buy you dinner."

Chris wanted to say more, wanted to say how he desired to spend hours kissing her, exploring her...filling her every need. But, they had a few other things they needed to collect.

"So...besides the space heaters, what else do we need?

 

[Apollo Wilde]

She stopped, and gawked at him. Blinked. Then, laughed - short, quick. And shook her head, hoisting the bag a bit higher. “That’s like something out of a Lifetime movie,” she chuckled. There was no contempt in her voice; just honest bemusement. She could feel her face growing warm again, and she kept her eyes glued to the hallway in front of them, on the carpet below her feet. Here they were, two supposed “adults”, and they couldn’t find good excuses to talk to each other. So much for being grown up and figuring things out.

“I was so glad you didn’t ask me any questions while you were at my desk - I was pretty sure that I couldn’t have told you what color the sky was. You were so into your work, I figured you probably didn’t notice that I may have been making an ass out of myself. So it all worked out, really.” She knew she’d watched him whenever he came down to their floor, but honestly, she was typically so busy that she couldn’t give him more than a passing glance. Her attention was always caught up in one project or the other - never really on her “here and now.” Great for the appearance of being “professional” - not so great for her anxiety. If there had been long, wistful looks, she wouldn’t have noticed them until now. And now, well, since the first time they fooled around, he seemed to be so much more direct, much more…predatory. And now, he seemed as sheepish as a teenager. It was hard to wrap her head around it all.

Before she could get a handle on her thoughts, he was kissing her - light, affectionate. Her returning kiss was clumsy, caught by surprise. She could still taste herself on him. It was grounding - though not in a bad way. “I just…” She swallowed, trying to arrange words that wouldn’t come. “God, a lot’s been going on, right?” It was lame, and she knew it, but she had to keep talking, keep digging until the right words came. “We went from being strangers to this - you asking me out for dinner. Guess it’s a little late to talk about the whole ‘three date then fucking’ rule.” A snort as she set down her duffle bag, their talking having carried them back to the lounge. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could have sworn that she could catch lingering traces of their fucking on the air.

“Well, I thought that if I was too persistent or something, you’d think I was harassing you or whatever. HR’s got a weird double standard.” His hands on her waist weren’t entirely unwelcome, but this still felt like it was moving way too fast than what was “proper” - though what that meant anymore could have been anyone’s guess. The man had the smell of her own cunt all over his face; the time to be demure had long since passed. “But besides the space heaters,” a gentle way of moving back on topic, “I think we’re all set up. I think they’re supposed to clean out the fridges every Friday, but I think the freezers are exempt for now. So, worse case scenario, we can see what’s in there, food wise. I’ve got a few odds and ends at my desk, but if we’re here for longer than the weekend, we might be in some mild trouble. I think people would understand if we went fridge raiding, though.” She gave him a warm smile, still a little shy around the edges.

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chris nodded and looked over at the vending machines in the staff lounge. "Yea can't say I'd be all that thrilled with what's in those machines. If we have to, sure we can raid them, but I agree with you, some might be upset for about 30 seconds to find that we ate their leftovers. Although... considering the weather and the number of people that were here today, there might be a few things. And, not to say that I want to venture back to marketing but I think they bought pizza for their department on Weds. Might be worth a look. As far as my own personal stash goes, there's not much to speak of. I ate what I brought with me, I didn't expect to get stuck in the snow storm of the century. And as far as anything else, unless you like popcorn, protein powder or energy bars, I don't have much to offer." He thought for a moment, then remembered something. "Although... as far as alcohol.. or if you might be interested... I hear the executive conference room has a stocked bar, and I do have the keys which is right next to Joanie's office, which is where we should be going."

He smiled, and the thought of bending her over the conference table and fucking her, or laying on it and having Dawn ride his cock was quite appealing. He shouldn't think about it, but he couldn't help but allow those thoughts to stay dead center in his mind. For the moment he had to, as with most men he thought about sex constantly, but he would have to prevent himself from acting on those impulses. Especially as he worried Dawn might draw back her interest. Returning his thoughts to the task at hand, he gave Dawn a light pat on the hip.

"Care to go with me? Or do you want to set everything up here? I mean all of this can wait, but executive conference room might be worth a look see."

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Let’s just hope it’s for the weekend, and not for longer than that. As much as I hate to keep the TV going, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. And get our phones fully charged, too. Might as well bring everything in here so we can really bunker down. I’ve got some odds and ends at my desk that I can bring here, but I dunno if booze is really the best idea.” Though she said it with a mischievous smile - it was clear that she figured what he might have had in mind.

And adding to her smile, she stepped forward, and lightly slapped his rear. “Down, boy. Let’s get set up for real, before we start going down that road again…I mean, we should probably talk a little. Because there’s going to be an after we get out of the office - and until I find another gig, I don’t want it to be awkward here, you know? So I’m gonna stay here and get things set up. Give you time to cool your head.”

And time to cool mine, she thought.

Besides, the sooner they got set up, the sooner they could get to the business of, you know, actually having fun. The idea of snuggling, quite naked, beneath layers of warm, fluffy sleeping bags, blankets, and whatever else, like a giant pillow fort, was quite appealing. It didn’t take much more convincing for her to head towards the duffle bags as she began to unpack them. “If you can grab the rest of the stuff, I’ll get us all set up in here.”

 

[CoSurvivor]

"Ok, but you are missing out. I'll see if there is anything I can bring back, are you a wine kinda girl, or ?"

When he got Dawn's response he thanked her, for setting everything up here, and said he’d be back in an hour. He listed off what he was going to pick up then kissed her. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss, it was a sort of ‘I’m going to pick this up later’ kind, one that left his cock stirring, hoping to have her lovely lips against his again very soon. So, with a playful swat on the ass he made his way out the door before she could get revenge. Slipping out the door, Chris playfully stuck his tongue out at her and trekked down to his office.

10 minutes later he exited his office with his bag over his shoulder, aiming his attention to Joanne's office at the end of the hall. Part of him wanted to check in on what Dawn was doing, but he thought back to what she advised about cooling their jets and thought of what they'd need to talk about.

As he walked, he thought his feelings through. Truly he thought they could manage it, and why deny what had happened between them? Enough people were going to guess that they might have hooked up, and if asked would he deny it? No, but... oh who was he fooling, he'd never tell a soul. It was none of their damn business what happened between the two of them, and if Dawn wanted to keep it under wraps he'd abide by her wishes. Besides, dating a co-worker was kind of frowned upon. But he was getting ahead of himself. At the very least what happened between them this weekend would be a personal thing. He was never one to kiss and tell anyway.

But he wanted to talk to Dawn about things, other things that had nothing to do with what might happen once they get out of there. He wanted to know, what turned her on, and tell her what stirred his loins. He could feel himself growing horny again, and had to really focus on what was right in front of him. Once they were set up, then they could do all the things they desired. The anticipation was almost killing him, but it was well worth it. He knew it would be.

Reaching Joanne's office he unlocked the door and could feel how it was measurably colder in there, something about how the A/C unit was positioned and the vents on that side of the building just made it cold. Snagging the space heater he left a note on Joanne's desk and headed to the executive conference room which took up a good bit of corner space on the 3rd floor. If one was to orient themselves in compass directions it would be the northeast corner of the building, allowing for a great view of the city, he remembered being in there for department meetings and knew the windows were a distraction because of the amazing views. The windows were floor to ceiling, the blinds which could be controlled by a control panel next to the door could control however much amount of light you wanted, or completely black it out for video conferences. The bar, which was stocked well because well, they’d been known to entertain international guests was also in a locked cabinet nearest the door too. And for those late night management meetings, it was known that the suit and tie types would have a few drinks.

Chris put his hand on the left doorknob of the double doors and pulled out his key ring. The door handle was measurably cold, which wasn’t unusual, but it was cold, maybe colder than it should be. Opening the door he could feel the cooler air hit him, and an unwelcome feeling hit the pit of his stomach. Looking about the room, the shades hadn’t been pulled, which meant he had a near perfect view of the city and the epic storm that was raging outside. If Dawn saw this, she’d be alarmed for sure. He didn’t want to alarm her, but damn if his optimism of getting out of here in only a weekend dropped from 80% to about 50%. The snow everywhere was massive. He could see signs that the snow plows had been out, but they hadn’t been there lately. The side streets were not plowed through, and the major roads just looked bad. Sure emergency services could get through if absolutely necessary, but for two people like them no… they’d be a low priority. As he suspected, hunkering down in place, and waiting it out was their best option. Once the storm passed they could figure things out. Putting the weather outside out of his mind, Chris went over to the liquor cabinet of the conference room, unlocked the doors and swung them open. A look of satisfaction came across his face.

A few minutes later Chris locked the conference room doors, picked up the space heater and made his way back to the staff lounge. A few bottles of liquor in hand. He didn’t take the ‘really good stuff’ but he made sure whatever he took wasn’t too expensive and could easily be replaced. Hey, if he was going to drink the bosses booze, lease he could do would be to replace it. He certainly hoped Dawn would approve of what he found.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

It was hard to think about the HR violation to the extreme that was currently happening when she was busying herself with making the break room livable. To be fair, there wasn’t much that she needed to really do - nothing major, anyway. The windows that were in the room were high up - much too high for anyone without a ladder to reach - and small enough to not be a major concern for heat loss.

In the meantime, she pushed the couches from their original side by side position to more of a semi-circle. In the space between, she lined the floor with the sleeping bags and blankets, creating a dense cushion. Taking a step back, she eyeballed the tops of the couches - then moved two of the tables over as well. With the tables on either end of the couches, she figures that they could be pushed in over the sleeping bags to offer more of a “protection” from any up draft - a canopy, as it were.

The TV was still on - prattling on in the background, unnoticed, and as she pulled one of the tables into a better position, the repeated phrase “storm of the century” finally caught her ear. She was standing in the middle of the cozy-looking area, arms crossed, face impassive, as the news went on. The news only asserted what Chris had figured out a few moments ago - that their stay was going to be much longer than the weekend. Ugh. Well. They at least had a warm, comfy place to sleep. And at this point, with what all that had been going on, sleep seemed like a welcome respite from all the insanity.

And then the little things filtered in - water, shower, hygiene. Oh, god - he’d cum inside of her, hadn’t he? Twice! Eh. Well - at least she’d be getting her money’s worth out of her birth control. That, she wasn’t too much worried about. But water - that was something that should be of concern. How long was it that people could live without food? It was a lot longer than without water. There had to be tupperwares, some sort of containers, that she could poach from other places in the building - preferably stashed away here- that she could get extra water stashed away. Probably wouldn’t be enough for a lovely bath, but enough to keep them hydrated and something close to clean.

Chris would return in time to see her looking in the cabinets under the sink, pausing to haul out leftover bowls from potlucks and forgotten serving bowls.

 

[CoSurvivor]

Chris approached the door to the staff lounge and knocked on it. Rapping his knuckles against the heavy wooden door, he grasped the handle, gave a good tug and pulled it open.

"Now why the hell would he do that?" Chris thought to himself. Why would he knock on a door that normally wouldn't dream of knocking on? It was just Dawn and him, but who knows what she was doing in there. What he did see upon entering made him smile.

Dawn bent over ass in the air sifting through the cabinets, but the room had been re-organized and he liked what she'd done with the place. Chris set his bag down on the couch, the two bottles he set down behind the nearest couch sort of as a surprise. Once done, he set down the space heater so it pointed toward the center of their bedded area, plugged the thing in, turned it to medium and listened to the small fan come to life. Pushing a couple buttons on it increased the temp it would put out, and also set it to oscillate through the room. Lastly, he snagged his bag and brought it over to one of the side tables starting to unload it.

"I like what you've done to the place... a lot more cozy than it was before I left. I raided our IT department and came back with a few things." As he showed Dawn each item, then set it on the table.

"One surge protector with a couple USB port slots, for quick charging in case you don't have a wall adapter. A couple additional charge cables, since I wasn't sure what kind of phone you had, figured I'd bring what I could find out of the IT stock closet. Since the execs make IT buy their phones we are sort of required to have a few extra chargers in-house. I also found these. Extra charge batteries. Hook a USB charge cable to your phone, to the battery and walah! about 30 minutes later you've got a fully charged phone. Figure if the power does go out, we will need to keep at least one of our phones available. Oh, and I brought an HDMI cable we can run from my laptop to the TV. if we so decide to binge-watch something we won't be limited to my tiny laptop screen."

Once he set everything out, Chris turned his attention to what Dawn had been doing in the cabinets. "What are you looking for? Can I help?"

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Awesome - let's go ahead and get our phones charged. Looks like we’re going to be in here for longer than anticipated,” she waved at the TV screen. Though the reporters had changed to international news, the status of the snowstorm continued to scroll across the bottom in dark blue. “I was getting out whatever I could so we could store water. If the storm keeps up, the likelihood of the pipes being frozen is going to go up. We can live without food for a bit, but water’s a no go.” Standing up, she dusted off her hands on her thighs, “But come to think about it, shouldn’t we leave the water running somewhere? Think that’s how it’s supposed to be in a freeze."

Eyeing the bottles in his hand, she smiled - a lopsided thing that seemed like she tucked a secret in the corner. “I can see where your priorities are.” She was teasing, clearly - not that she was going to say no to booze. “Though honestly, I’m pretty tired. In-between all of the earlier…excitement,” and wasn't THAT a loaded word, “and actually having worked a stupid long shift, I figure the best way to clear my head is to go ahead and call it.”

She wouldn’t be the first to admit that she suffered from anxiety - and that keeping busy (and apparently fucking like mad) was the only thing that was keeping it at bay. Now, she could feel, she was actually starting to crash. Not that she was going to break down into a shrieking fit, but fatigue was snaking through her body, and it was getting harder to actually focus.

 

[CoSurvivor]

"Running water in a freeze?" Chris thought about it for a moment then reached back and scratched his head, he remembered his childhood when he was a kid he'd been on vacation to a much warmer climate when they'd had a cold snap. Chris thought for a moment looking at what containers Dawn had found

"AH.... good idea. We should fill as many containers as possible while we still have running water. And yea to be safe we should crack the tap to run 'warm' water through the lines. I don't think any of the water lines run through the exterior walls, so the chances of the interior pipes freezing will probably be pretty slim. That said, your idea is a very valid one."

The thought then occurred to Chris, what about bathing? and using the bathroom? He didn't want to think about it honestly, and while he could go a few days without a shower, they'd need to figure out what to do. He decided he'd research that while they had the time. Chris knew they were stranded, but they were not without hope. this wasn't some stupid end of the world movie where they'd be stranded for months. Days, maybe a week but not a month. He had to reassure Dawn of that very thing. But she had a point, they'd both worked long hours, sick long hours and it was approaching 10:00 pm. Looking over at their makeshift bed he thought of snuggling under the covers and getting warm next to dawn again, it made him stir a little, but he also had to remember, she'd had sex with him, but that didn't mean they were going to fuck in every corner of the building. Resolved that Dawn was right, and feeling his own fatigue setting in, Chris agreed.

"Yea... I think we probably should wrap it up once we get as much water out of the taps as we feel comfortable. So long as we have running water we should use it. And, we should eat something."

Chris, looked over at the fridge, .and looked in. "Did you find anything in here worth eating?"