Take My Breath Away

The pic she sent was a selfie. She sat in front of her dressing table, in a strapless peach nightgown. Her dark, lustrous hair, which was usually tied up, fell loose around her shoulders. She wore no makeup except the lipstick Wesley bought her.

Wesley's hand shook a little, and the enlarged image snapped back to its normal size.

"You're quiet. That bad? Never mind. I'll take it down," Blair said.

Before she deleted the pic, Wesley saved it.

"I just wanted to let you know that not all lipstick is red. This one is buttermilk with a brownish tint. You can call it a Mocha lipstick shade."

Holding his phone in his left hand, and a cigarette between his fingers of his right, Wesley leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.

The only thing he could think about was Blair. She filled his head. Her smile, her voice... the gentle Blair, the mischievous Blair, the aloof Blair, the angry Blair... Every one of them was adorable.

His finger slid across the screen of his phone. He found the picture and stared at it, longer this time, mesmerized.

He missed her so much, he realized.

The silence from Wesley was like a slap in the face. Blair felt humiliated.

She regretted ever sending him the photo. Not even patient enough to get the makeup remover, she grabbed a cotton swab and started to remove the lipstick. She was frustrated, angrily wiping her face clean.

Afterwards, she tossed the lipstick into a drawer and buried it deep under the rest of the detritus in there. Behind the suntan lotion, underneath the loofah, mixed in with all the other shades she rarely touched.

Then she went to bed, leaving the desk lamp on.

But sleep seemed reluctant to visit. She tossed and turned in bed, wondering why Wesley never replied.

When her phone buzzed, she jerked up like a spring and reached for her phone out of reflex. It was a two-second message from Wesley.

She clicked on it excitedly and put her phone to her ear. "You look very nice," he said. He was breathing heavily, as if he was running.

'Not "nice" but "very nice."' Blair thought the world was bright and beautiful again.

'But why did it take him so long to reply? And I already deleted it. If he just saw my message, he shouldn't have been able to see the photo.'

To solve the puzzle, she asked, "Who looks nice?"

"You do. In your pic," he typed.

So he did see it. Blair didn't know what to say. She sent him an ellipsis and lay down, but still couldn't sleep. This time it was because of the thrill. She could almost hear her heart drumming, beating hard against her chest.

Three minutes later, she slipped out of her blanket, took the lipstick out of the drawer, and put it in the most conspicuous spot on the vanity. Now, she was ready to sleep.

Wesley had already started his run, making good time on the track. It was important to the military for their men to have good stamina, so this was an essential part of their regimen. Sweat drenched the top he was wearing, but he still managed to glance at his phone and smile when he saw the dots Blair sent.

Under the same sky, two hearts beat in the same rhythm.

Blair got up early the next morning and put on some makeup. She put on some eyeliner, lipstick, and foundation. She didn't go for the full monty, but it took long enough. Some important foreign clients were visiting their company today. Blair was going to be her boss' interpreter. She didn't want to look like a slouch.

The young interpreter got into the office by 7 a.m., but she was far from the first one there. The reasons varied. Some were trying to get work done before their actual shift. Others took an early shift deliberately so they could get off earlier in the day. And someone had to turn on the lights. Breakfast in hand, she walked towards the elevator.

She pushed the button and waited for the doors to open. While she stood there, her boss, Percy Jin, and his mistress, Filberta Wang stopped in front of the elevator to wait with her. Filberta Wang was not only Percy's mistress, but Blair's immediate superior.

For some reason that Blair couldn't figure out, the mistress hated her. This was a persistent problem, starting from day 1.

She was under thirty, while Percy Jin was in his late forties. His wife spent most of her time in the United States. So he had something on the side. This was a secret that everyone knew, an open secret among the employees.

But to keep their jobs, nobody talked about it openly.

The doors opened, so Percy Jin and his mistress walked in. Blair remained out in the lobby. "Come on, Blair. No sense in waiting there forever," he said, pressing the "open door" button to keep the car on that floor. She looked at the boss, but Percy Jin didn't seem threatening. It was a friendly invitation.

The fact that he was nice to Blair was exactly why Filberta Wang was hostile to her in the first place.

Blair was fresh out of university, but she was already team leader. She got that position too easily. At least Filberta Wang thought so. She was convinced that Blair must have done something for the boss. She believed Blair sailed by on her beauty, instead of earning her spot. She even thought her degree was because she had used her feminine wiles.

And she got paid insanely well. She was still on probation, but the company had already provided her with all kinds of insurance, meals, an apartment, bonuses and dividends. If you counted the bonuses, she earned at least $20, 000 a month.

Actually, with Blair's skill, the pay was well-deserved. She could have found an even higher-paying job somewhere else.

But she stayed put. Her current company was mid-sized. She didn't like all the rules that larger firms might impose. And she was worried that if she took a job at a firm that was too small she might have to take on more than one job.

Hearing Percy Jin's invitation, Blair smiled at him and replied politely, 'Thank you, Mr. Jin, but I'll wait for the next one."

Then she pressed the "UP" button of her elevator and continued to wait. Percy Jin gave her one more look and smiled. He didn't insist, and simply let the elevator doors close, going up with Filberta Wang.

Blair breathed a sigh of relief after the elevator was gone. Before long, the one she was waiting for came.

As soon as Blair reached her desk, Filberta Wang said, "Blair, could you see me in my office?"

Blair put her breakfast on the desk and went to Filberta Wang's office.

The woman was paging through a file. Hearing the knock on the door, she didn't look up. "The guests are on their way, but my office is still dirty. The cleaning lady did a lousy job. You need to clean it again."

'Me? Cleaning? Yeah, you wish!' Blair refused, "I'm sorry, Filberta. I can't. The guests will be here in less than twenty minutes. I'm still working on the materials that need interpretation. Find someone else to clean!"

Filberta Wang, who was wearing smoky eye makeup, gaped at Blair and berated, "I'm your supervisor! When I ask you to clean, you clean! Besides, you're so brilliant. I think you'll do a better job cleaning."

Blair wasn't provoked. She retorted with a smile, "Yes, you're my supervisor. I'm wondering—will you take the fall if something goes wrong with the upcoming meeting? After all, I'm supposed to be preparing the materials. If you're preventing me from doing that, then do you want to do it? Or can you just tell the boss for me? Come on, I'm just a nobody. I don't think I can take on so much responsibility. So can you do it for me?"

Filberta Wang's face was dark as coal. "How dare you challenge me like that!"

"I'm just trying to do my job. The delegation is about to arrive. Need someone to clean? Grab a broom. I'm running out of time. So, if you'll excuse me..." With that, Blair left the office.

She was telling the truth. If she spent the time cleaning Filberta Wang's office, she wouldn't have enough time to prepare for the meeting. If she screwed up, she would get fired. Maybe that was her supervisor's intent all along.

At 7:30 a.m., Blair followed Percy Jin to the front doors to meet the guests.