SubscribeStar Story: The Conference, Part Two

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Part Two

It all started a few minutes after we arrived in our shared hotel room.

Between being on the same flight and the same shuttle, I already needed a break from Larissa. Not that we had conversed that much, aside from briefly discussing how we were going to split up responsibilities at the coming meetings and presentations. Since we were both focused on bringing in new clients, there wasn’t a great compromise when it came to who would take what section. Eventually, we settled on simply alternating who would be taking the more lead role. It was the only way we wouldn’t butt heads and try to steal the spotlight from each other along the way. Subtly competing back at the office was one thing, but we would both look bad if our rivalry ended up costing us potential business.

Aside from wanting some time to myself, I would have rinsed off after half a day of traveling anyway. Claiming the bathroom and bringing in my dress clothes so the steam could help with whatever wrinkles that might have formed over the last few hours despite my best efforts to neatly pack everything, I hopped in the shower and started mentally going over my notes for the first presentation I’d be taking point on.

Larissa walked into the bathroom a couple minutes later. The way she opened the door wasn’t particularly quiet, and the fact that she announced herself further proved she wasn’t trying to be sneaky or anything like that. “I need to freshen up,” she said, “You don’t mind, do you?”

“I mind that you didn’t knock,” I replied. The fact that she waited so long after I began running the water made me assume she wasn’t trying to catch me naked or whatever, but still. Boundaries. Especially since the fact that we were opposite genders in a hotel room was already iffy from a professional standpoint. She didn’t need to complicate things further on that front.

Apparently I had a lot more to worry about than simply her presence in the bathroom. “Coming in,” she said. With absolutely zero warning, she pulled back the curtain and stepped into the tub. Like it was the most casual act in the world, despite the fact that she was fully nude and the two of us had never seen each other in anything but business attire.

I didn’t stare stare, though my eyes were naturally drawn downwards for a moment. It didn’t matter that she was my rival; a naked girl was still a naked girl, especially when completely unexpected. “Larissa!” I exclaimed, after the momentary shock passed. Covering my crotch with one hand and averting my gaze, I asked, “What are you doing?!”

“I told you,” she simply said, “I need to freshen up.”

“Yeah, but-” What was I supposed to say to that? How was I supposed to say anything when she was mere feet from me without a stitch of clothing on? I had half a mind to jump out of the tub and wrap a towel around myself for the sake of some semblance of modesty. The only thing stopping me was years of habit, as doing something like that mid-shower wasn’t a natural impulse. But neither was talking face to face with my naked colleague.

“But nothing,” she rolled her eyes, “There’s not enough time for both of us to shower. Are you going to let me have some of the water, or would you rather keep ogling me?”

“I’m not even looking!” I point out. It was true. Though I had gotten a good eyeful of her bare breasts, I was now keeping my gaze trained on the tile up and off to the side. I could still see Larissa in my peripherals, but was making a constant effort to only focus on her head. “Seriously, what are you doing? This is not appropriate. Like, at all.”

Larissa chuckled, “Like, OMG. Seriously, it’s not a big deal. Are you attracted to me?”

“Of course not,” I scoffed. That was one thing I was certain of. Objectively, sure. She was attractive. When dressed in her professional outfits, and when buck naked. However, being attractive didn’t mean that I was attracted to her. Because she was a total pain in my ass.

“And does seeing me naked mean anything?” she continued.

Not exactly a fair yes/no question. I was still too surprised and flustered to begin to explain how it meant something, at least in terms of this being a far cry from a normal situation. Of course, she would have known that before waltzing into the shower like this. I was the underprepared one, unfortunately, leaving me no time to come up with a better response than an awkward, “No.” It didn’t mean anything. At least, in terms of the feelings towards her she was hinting at. “But, you can’t just-”

“Sure, I can! Now, move over.” With that, she slowly stepped forward.

In the confined space, there wasn’t much I could do. Still failing to grasp the concept that I could just leave the shower, especially since it didn’t matter as much if I got the floor of a hotel bathroom wet, I instinctively took a step backwards to match her movement. Was this her plan? Set me up for an HR nightmare that had already briefly crossed my mind? Or maybe this was her attempt at some kind of hate fuck, even if ‘hate’ wasn’t quite the right word for our dynamic.

Regardless of what her intentions were, or the fact that I hadn’t at all processed what I was going to do in probably the one situation where a girl getting into the shower with me didn’t immediately cause me to pounce at the opportunity, Larissa’s tactic worked. As I moved out of the way, she took my place and exhaled with a smile as the hot water cascaded over her body.

“Well?” Larissa said, “Are you just going to stand there, or . . . ”

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