What My Coworker Asked Me for in the Booth

Elena was not just a coworker: over the years she had become one of my best friends. We had that kind of trust that lets you tell each other almost everything, although, as always happens, there were things neither of us had ever put on the table. She held a management position and had her own office, a place where a small group of us would gather mid-morning to have coffee and laugh for a while.

That week Andrés, another member of the group, was getting married. His bachelor party was on Thursday and the wedding on Saturday, so by Monday we were already organizing the arrangements. We settled the serious gift quickly: a good watch, expensive but well deserved. What tripped us up were the joke gifts, the ones handed over at dinner amid laughter.

Since no one could agree, Elena and I ended up being in charge of buying them. When the others left, we stayed alone in her office to finalize the plan.

—The easiest thing is to go with the usual —I told her—. I’ll pop into a sex shop and buy him some funny little thing.

—A sex shop? —she repeated, and fell into thought.

—Yeah, any problem with that?

—No, it’s just that I’ve never been inside one. Would you mind if I came with you?

—I don’t mind at all —I answered—. But I should warn you, you’re going to see some pretty surprising things.

—I don’t mind. I’ve never set foot in one and I’m curious.

We agreed to go that very afternoon, after lunch. Up to that day, nothing sexual had ever happened between Elena and me. She was short, with rounded curves, a generous chest, and a very pretty face, but her real charm lay in her warmth and the way she treated people.

I’m not going to lie: more than once my eyes had drifted to her neckline, and I suppose she had noticed. I imagined she was used to that kind of look. Even so, I would never have crossed the line with a friend.

***

We ate something quick and took a taxi. Inside the car I asked her again if she was sure.

—Why do you keep insisting so much? —she said, amused.

—Because those places aren’t exactly meant for a quiet visit. The videos and photos are very explicit.

—Wow, I can see you know it well.

—I’ve been there before, yes. Bachelor parties, you know.

—Then drop it already. I want to see it, and this is the best chance.

I paid the driver and we went in. I was flooded with a strange feeling. Going in there with a woman was exciting enough in itself, but that the woman was Elena left me unsettled. I had no idea how she was going to react.

As soon as we crossed the door there was an exhibition of video covers, quite varied. We walked past them and Elena didn’t miss a single detail.

—Jesus, this is insane —she whispered in my ear—. Please, look at that…

—Come on, the shop is this way —I said, pointing to a staircase.

—Wait. And what’s that? —she asked, pointing at some booths in the back.

—Booths for watching movies. Come on.

—No, wait. I want to go into one.

—What?

—Yes, but go in with me. I don’t want to do it alone.

I went to the entrance to change some coins and asked whether the two of us could go in together. They told me yes, but only to the video booths. I went back and told Elena.

—Perfect —she replied without hesitation.

I let her go in first. The cubicle was narrow, barely a seat and two monitors, one on top of the other. I asked her to sit down and I stayed standing beside her. The first thing I noticed was the view of her neckline from above. I was already starting to get hard and I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen when the images started.

I closed the door. Beside her were the channel remote and a box of tissues. I handed her several coins.

—Your choice —I told her.

She dropped one in and the light went out. The two monitors switched on at once, with the volume far too high. The scenes were as raw as can be, the moans filled the cubicle, and my body reacted instantly. I got hard right away, so tense it felt like I was about to burst out of my pants.

Elena watched the screen in silence. She changed channels, and then again, and every change was worse than the last. Lesbian films, a scene with chains, two men going at it without restraint. I was about to explode.

The thought crossed my mind of unzipping myself right there. It was stiflingly hot in that tiny space and I must have been sweating like crazy between the heat and the excitement.

—Is something wrong? —she asked suddenly, looking at me.

—You can imagine —I answered with a half smile.

She seemed to understand perfectly. She fixed her gaze on my groin, then back up at my eyes, and said something I wasn’t expecting:

—Why don’t you sit down and act like you’re alone?

I looked at her, not sure I’d heard right.

—You heard me. Sit down and jerk off —she repeated calmly.

I couldn’t believe it. My friend Elena was asking me to masturbate in front of her, and the truth was I desperately needed it. She stood up and I took the seat.

***

I didn’t think twice. I opened my shirt, unbuttoned my pants, and, straightening up a little, pulled them down to my knees. My erection was out in the open, shiny and firm. I knew I wasn’t going to last long with all that I had built up.

I grabbed myself and started slowly. Elena had her eyes fixed on me, not even pretending otherwise. And then she did something that surprised me and turned me on even more: she pressed the tip of her finger to the head, gathered the drop that had appeared, and brought it to her mouth to taste it.

I picked up speed, taking my time, wanting her to enjoy it as much as I did. The words slipped out of me almost on their own.

—I want to finish on your breasts —I told her.

She didn’t answer. She took off her blouse and unclasped her bra while I kept going. They were exactly as I had imagined, with dark, hardened nipples. I let my hand rest for a moment to stroke them, pinching softly, and she let me without a sound. Then she leaned forward and brought them to my mouth.

I sucked and bit them without hurry, until I felt her hand take over and masturbate me herself. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I warned her, aimed at her chest, and the first jet hit her chin; the rest fell where she wanted it.

We stayed still until the coins ran out and the light came back on. She grabbed some tissues and cleaned herself; I did the same, in that space where there was no way to hide. She dressed, I opened the door, and we stepped out flushed and overheated. I had emptied myself, but Elena hadn’t, and it was obvious she was still tense.

We didn’t speak. We bought a couple of silly things in the shop, paid, and left. In the taxi back we didn’t say a word, and when we got to the office we each went back to our own place with a curt “see you later.”

***

The next day, my coworkers called me for our usual coffee, but I used work as an excuse. Half an hour later Elena was the one who phoned me, asking me to stop by her office.

I had no idea how she was going to react, but by her tone she didn’t seem angry. When I went in, she asked me to close the door and sit down. She stood up from her desk and began to speak.

—What happened yesterday doesn’t have to affect our friendship —she said—. It happened because it had to happen, and because I asked for it.

She slid the bolt from the inside and sat back down in front of me.

—I had a very good time yesterday, but I was left wanting. I need us to finish what we started.

She unbuttoned her blouse and exposed her breasts, barely covered by a white lace bra.

—Come on, get closer.

She herself pulled down my pants and stroked me until I was hard. Then she leaned down and took me into her mouth, slowly, savoring me. My hands found her chest, those nipples I had been remembering all night.

She stood up, took off her skirt, and, once she sat back down, asked me to return the favor with my tongue the same way she had done for me. I knelt down and worked without hurry, until she came with a tremor she tried to silence by biting her hand.

That wasn’t enough for her. As soon as she caught her breath, she leaned over the desk, spread her legs, and, with a broken voice, asked for what she wanted.

—Make me yours. I want to feel you inside me.

I entered her slowly. She muffled her moans by resting her head on a cushion, both of us aware that the door didn’t block out a thing. She came twice more before I warned her I was at the limit.

—Not inside —she said—. Wait.

She came out, turned around, knelt down, and finished me off with her hand in front of her face. I aimed at her chest and soaked her completely. She collected a little with her finger and brought it to her mouth.

—Next time I want it here —she said, pointing to her lips with a smile.

I didn’t recognize the Elena I always knew. Or maybe I had never really known her at all.

***

A few days later the CEO, Gerardo, called me in to his office. When I went in, I found Elena sitting on a sofa and him in his armchair.

—Sit down, we need to talk to you.

The sentence didn’t bode well. Sweat was running down my temple and the silence in the office didn’t help.

—Relax, everything’s fine —he added right away—. You see, I’m thinking about a small staff reorganization and you’re one of the candidates for a promotion.

I breathed out, relieved. But he went on.

—You’re not the only one. In your favor, Elena likes you very much, both for your work and for what happens outside it.

I didn’t understand what he meant by “outside it.”

—Elena and I are good friends. More than friends, actually. She told me about the sex shop visit and about what happened in her office. I admit I enjoyed listening to her very much.

I didn’t know where to put myself. The nerves and the tremble in my hands came back.

—What I mean is that you’ve already got a lot going for you with Elena. But the two of us expect something more from you, and that’s in your hands.

Elena, who had been silent until then, took the floor.

—I already know what you can give me, and I love it. Now we just need to see what you can offer Gerardo. For your peace of mind, he’s the sweetest man I know.

—I… I don’t know exactly what you expect from me —I answered—, but I’ll try not to let you down.

They both smiled. Gerardo told his secretary he didn’t want any interruptions under any circumstances. Elena stood up and locked the door.

***

She stripped completely naked and came over to me. She took off my jacket, my shirt, my belt, and pulled down my pants. She knelt down and didn’t wait a second before taking me in her mouth. Gerardo watched us from his armchair with an expression of satisfaction.

I thought that if it all came down to that, it would be easy enough. How wrong I was.

While Elena kept going, I noticed one of her fingers searching lower. I didn’t think much of it until I felt her press gently on a spot no one had ever touched before. Instinctively, I pulled away.

—Relax, you’re going to like it —she said, and went right back to what she was doing.

Her finger, already lubricated, went in slowly. Then a second, and a third. She was opening me up little by little, and, against everything I would have sworn, I was starting to like it.

—Do you like it? —she asked.

—Yes. It’s strange, but yes —I admitted.

When she pulled her fingers out I felt a stab of frustration. What came next was something hot and firm forcing its way in. I looked for Gerardo and he wasn’t in his armchair: I found him behind me, his hands on my hips, holding me tightly. He was entering me slowly, measuring every movement, while Elena stayed kneeling in front of me.

Pleasure was hitting me from both sides at once and my head couldn’t process it. The pace kept building, Gerardo’s moans too, until I felt him empty himself. I couldn’t hold out any longer and came in Elena’s mouth, which had not stopped for a single moment.

Gerardo pulled out and sat back down. Elena took my hand and, together, on our knees, we finished what he had started. That day I understood what was truly expected of me.

***

I accepted the rules of the game. From then on, if I wanted the promotion, I also had to be available to him whenever he asked. And so it was: my career took off like never before, I got my own office and even a secretary who, as you can imagine, was a true expert at what she did.

My encounters with Elena and Gerardo became an odd routine, equal parts addictive and unsettling. Even so, Elena and I kept reserving one day a week for just the two of us, in her office or mine, where everything had begun with a simple visit to a sex shop. Even now I still struggle to believe how far that afternoon of curiosity went.