I could still remember Tom’s first day at work. How could I forget? Usually our male managers were all dumpy fellows with Napoleon complexes, but not Tom. He was the complete opposite. He was in his mid thirties but certainly did not look it. He was 6’2”, broad shouldered, dark haired, with a smile that would make you melt.

All the girls at work lusted after him, often making complete fools of themselves. I must admit I often found myself doing the same. That was whenever he tracked me down. I had a habit of avoiding him since being close to him for too long often resulted in instant arousal. I used to think he enjoyed making me squirm; he would always flash that killer smile at me, resulting in me turning several shades of red.

On one particular busy night after the store had closed, I was so immersed in cleaning up that I completely missed Tom’s announcement that everyone was free to go home. It wasn’t until they turned off the lights that I realized I was the only one left; there was no one in the store. As I walked towards the back of the store, relief came over me. There was a light on in the managers’ office. I guess Tom decided to stay and finish some paperwork, I thought.

As I neared his door, I realized he was on the phone and by the sound of it, in the middle of a heated discussion. What was I going to do? I had nowhere else to turn as he was the only one who could let me out. As I paced outside gathering whatever courage I could, the door suddenly swung open and there he stood yelling: “Who’s there?” I nearly jumped out of my skin and I fell backwards, knocking down the new display of videos I had spent most of that day setting up.

“Damn it!” I yelled as I got myself together and started picking up what was left of my display.

“I’m sorry. I thought everyone had left. Didn’t you hear me make that announcement? What are you still doing here?” Tom said with genuine concern, all traces of anger he had shown earlier completely gone.

“I was in the back. I didn’t hear you,” I said in an aggravated tone. But after one look at his bedroom eyes, all my anger vanished. “I saw your light on and was gonna come in, but it sounded like you were in no mood to be disturbed. I’ve never heard you angry before,” I confessed.

Tom was never one to show much emotion; he was a big mystery to everyone. The big game at work was trying to find out something about him and then sharing it with everyone. It was like a big prize whenever he shared something of his personal life with someone at work.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I was arguing with my wife. That’s usually all we do nowadays. I swear it was a mistake getting married so young,” he said quickly, his eyes evading mine.

I couldn’t believe he was confessing this to me. I had to keep him talking; this was the closest I had ever been to him. I was beginning to get aroused just by the smell of his cologne. Damn, what power this man had over me.