The Kiss

“I need to get this picture blown up to 40 by 32 inches.”  Amanda looked up from the computer at the customer who had just walked in.  He was a clean-cut man in his mid-thirties, and he was wearing a Ralph Lauren button-down shirt tucked neatly into a pair of khakis.  She looked down at the picture he was holding.  It was the typical American family:  husband, wife, son, daughter, baby.  They were all wearing red sweaters and smiling the cheesiest smiles imaginable.  The baby was wearing reindeer antlers and had a little red dot on its nose.

Amanda wanted to roll her eyes; she had seen the same picture from every other suburban middle-class family that had walked in the doors of Monster Camera this November.  Instead, she smiled and said, “This is a great picture!  How about you also get it in postcard size to send out to your friends and family?”

“That is a great idea!  I’ll take 100.”

Well, that was an easy sale, Amanda thought.  She completed the transaction and took the print over to the image processing station.  Just then, Perry came in from the back of the store.  Amanda smiled at him, then immediately felt as if she had just been caught doing something wrong.

Perry was the assistant manager of the store.  At 5’9″ with a somewhat stocky frame and average features, he was not the type of guy in which Amanda was normally attracted.  But he had this quiet confidence about him that made him mysterious and alluring, and that made Amanda nervous.

Truth be told, Amanda was a bit insecure herself.  She had gorgeous features and curves, but she really felt like she needed to lose of few pounds before she felt really good about herself.  It was these insecurities that had led her to have casual relationships, never allowing herself to feel anything real.

Suddenly, Amanda realized that Perry had been staring at her while she was lost in her thoughts.  “You alright?” he asked her.

“Oh, I’m fine.  I think I just need some caffeine or something,” Amanda lied.

“I’ll be right back!” Perry said happily, and rushed off to the back of the store.  A few minutes later he returned, carrying two piping hot coffees in his hand.  “Sorry, it’s nothing fancy,” he apologized.  Amanda smiled at him, touched by his thoughtfulness.  She grasped the Styrofoam cup with both hands, watching the steam rise from the top.  She thought about saying something, anything, but then she just looked down at her coffee.

Perry touched the coffee to his lips.  “Ow!”

“You can’t drink it yet!  It’s too hot!”  Amanda laughed.

“I know, it’s just that I am so eager to drink it after it has been poured,” he explained.

“Well, what I do is set it down, and then go off somewhere and do something else.  Then, by the time I remember, it is still warm but cool enough to drink.”  As she spoke, Amanda got up and put the coffee down on the other counter.  Perry followed suit, and they returned to their previous spot.  Amanda sat down on the only stool behind the register.  Perry stood next to her, closer than before.  She could feel the heat from his body.  She inhaled and smelled his cologne, masculine, but not overpowering.

Perry stood over her, “I guess we need to find something to do while we wait for our coffee to cool.”  Amanda noticed that she was hunched over on the stool.  She straightened her back, and looked for some kind of work to do.  She began organizing the front counter stacking papers, gathering pens and paper clips, and other busy work.

Amanda looked over at Perry.  He hadn’t moved.  He was just looking at her:  at her hair, her ears, her neck, her eyes, her mouth.  He wanted to kiss her, she realized.  They met eyes again, and Amanda felt as though she was in a trance.  Thoughts raced through her mind while her heart began to pound.  He’s my manager.  We have to work together.  Was that girl in here last week his girlfriend?

Perry began to lean in; she had to make a decision.  Amanda discovered that she truly wanted him to kiss her, that she had been wanting him to kiss her since the first time they worked together.  The kiss is inevitable, so she let it happen.

His lips touched hers, and a wave of electricity flowed through her.  She gave herself over to the kiss, and began to kiss the way she always did, with a taut mouth and seductively sucking on his tongue.  Suddenly, he stopped her.

“Relax your mouth,” Perry instructed gently.  She had never had anyone criticize the way she kissed, but she quickly realized what he meant.  The kiss was so deep, so passionate; it was unlike something she had ever felt before.

Suddenly, a customer walked in.  Amanda turned to face them, her face as red as a beet.  Perry stepped back just as cool as can be, and crossed his arms across his chest.  The customer, an older woman, laughed and said, “Should I come back later?”  Amanda was dazed by the kiss and flooded with embarrassment.  But even with the shame of being caught kissing, in public, at work no less, it was one of the most amazing kisses of her life.  And it was just their first kiss.

Amanda gathered herself and began talking to the customer.  Perry watched as her face went from shades of red to pink to lightly flushed.  She turned to look back at him, and he watched as her cheeks flush red again.  They smiled at each other.

Perry walked over to where he had placed his coffee.  He took a sip; it was just the right temperature.  He smiled to himself as he watched Amanda work.  He was planning on asking her out to dinner after work.  They would soon see where else that kiss would take them.