The Meeting [Free for All]

[AJoeOfSubjectiveQuality]

Jake rested his elbows on the conference table and massaged his throbbing temples. Everyone in the Accounting department had been called into an impromptu meeting at 5 PM on a summer Friday night. The department head, phoning it in from home of course, had just informed everyone that they'd be working nights and weekends to manage the end-of-quarter crunch. No exceptions.

Everyone just sat in stunned silence after the boss signed off, and then the grumbling began; plans ruined, dates wrecked, travel plans shattered.  The air conditioning had shut down for the night and the temperature was rising, putting everyone further on edge. To say that everyone was stressed was an understatement. Nobody was in a rush to go back to their cubicles, though.

Jake absently looked at his coworkers, and suddenly blinked. A woman on the other side of the table ... her pageboy haircut, horn-rimmed glasses, long and graceful neck; it was one of those serendipitous moments when a woman's looks unexpectedly synergize into something extraordinarily sexy. He inhaled deeply through his nostrils to calm himself, but others were catching his eye now. One man had obviously been working out: his tailored Arrow shirt was starting to strain against his biceps. The strap of a sundress and a brassiere strap had fallen off another woman's shoulder. For the first time he was seeing his peers as people instead of co-workers, and they were a subtly sexy group indeed.

He heard a sudden intake of breath next to him. The mousy brunette to his left was looking at his lap, and Jake suddenly realized that he had one of the biggest hard-ons of his life. She looked confused, as if she didn't know what to feel at this unusual breach of corporate decorum. She looked like she was about to say something, and then stopped. Her hand moving towards her mouth hung there, and then idly moved to her blouse and toyed with a button. Her nipples pressed against the cloth, plainly visible to everyone. She looked him in the eyes, and he saw her sudden hunger. In that moment, they both knew that sex was coming for them.

The moment lasted too long, though, and slowly conversation began to fade as people noticed the look between the two. Oddly, nobody giggled or made a snide comment. They just watched, silently.

Jake looked at them all. Some women were biting at their fingers or smoothing their tops. Some men were putting their iPads into their laps, or running their hands across their thighs. Nobody was moving. Everyone was watching silently, waiting for something. Breathing was becoming heavier in the hot and humid room. The sexual tension was building, almost suffocating them all.

He never really understood why, but at that moment he stood up. Everyone could see his erection now. Turning to the brunette, he drew her to her feet. She rose as if in a trance, neither understanding nor questioning as he took her hands and guided them to his shirt.

Out loud, he borrowed the corporate rah-rah phrase that their boss had just spent an hour hammering at them all. "Carpe diem." Seize the day!

And then he looked her in the eyes as he forcibly yanked her hands apart. His shirt tore, sending buttons flying across the room.

Edited March 25 by AJoeOfSubjectiveQuality
Typo.