We huddle silently
Draped in a quilt of innocent friendship
The warmth of our arms mingling
As we sit side-by-side in the dark room
Our faces flicker with multi-colored splashes
Dolled out by my bulky old TV
Showing our private 'movie-night' movie
Bathing us in translucent excuses

She's glowing tonight
Even more so than usual
Her clothes are a little tighter
Her make-up more carefully attended
Her hair shimmering and smoother
Her cheeks a little pinker
Funny
I'm also radiating a wisp of that cologne she likes

Tension takes residence in my muscles
As we sit on bean bags resting against the end of my bed
My mind starts to lose track of the plot
Infested with tendrils of desire
Creeping through me
Testing the walls of my internal resistance.
Probing stonework fractured by her wink by the photocopier
And fissures carved by months of plausibly deniable flirting

But it's stupid to get involved with someone you work with.

Isn't it?

I promise myself I'm not going to do it
Papering the cracks with the word 'no'
Before my cravings burst through
I clench my jaw as my arm snakes around her
My hand touches her shoulder
And I taste the sin of her decadently-smooth flesh
She gulps but snuggles closer
Our frames melding with astonishing liquid ease

I can feel every movement in her body
Surely she can feel mine too
Deniability has popped
Like an over-inflated balloon
And just as obviously
I turn my head towards her
She reacts instantly
And we stare at each other

The pupils of her brown eyes dilate wider than a chasm
Her irises dance with the room's fast-changing glow
She looks at my lips. I look at hers. There's a pause.
Then we connect.
Blending with the softness and sweetness of two clouds
Electrified with a bolt of lightning
And a clap of ill-advised atomic thunder
That rolls on until the Earth has shifted