The weekend I spent with Kate and Tammy provided all the distractions I needed. To my great joy, both of them were made to get along. They not only shared a love for Friends, but also an affection for girly stuff and Chris Hemsworth.
For two days, our apartment turned into a spa facility, and facemasks, skincare, and hair removal became mandatory. Tammy took care of my bangs, which had grown too long, and Kate insisted on imposing a bikini wax on me. Because I was still not over that time she'd accidentally burned me down there with scorching wax, I agreed at the sole condition that a professional had to do it. This resulted in a trip to an actual salon. They took a couple's face massage together, enjoying the fuck out of it, while I endured what could only be qualified as medieval torture. I'd forgotten how painful that shit was. Anyhow, this bad moment resulted in my chocha being "ready to be taken out," Kate had stated with a proud smile.
In Tamika's mind, we were doing all this for my date with Oliver, Wednesday evening. In Kate's, however, it was for someone else, even though she said nothing of it; I knew her well enough to see she thought something was going on between my boss and me. In my mind, however, I was doing it for myself, because a girl deserved to treat herself once in a while, masculine influences ignored.
My blonde friend hadn't peeped a word about Friday evening's events, but I knew she was dying to hear some details. Kate was too smart not to know who had reduced me to such a state of advanced debauchery, but she understood the matter wasn't funny or up for debate. Kate could see how the situation tormented me and didn't insist. She wouldn't last forever, though, and I would have to open up at some point.
In all truth, I wouldn't even know where to start. What had happened was wrong, I knew that and felt it deep inside of me, but the memories of it felt so right... It was hard to keep a clear mind. I couldn't let anything happen between Lex and me. We weren't compatible in so many ways. He was my boss, unattainable, arrogant, and cold. We were polar opposites. It didn't matter if my vagina sang serenades every time he looked my way, sex wasn't everything. I loved my job, loved my roommate, loved my new friends... I wasn't going to ruin everything I had for a few minutes of bliss, even given by him.
But what if it was the blissiest bliss that ever was?
No. It didn't matter if Lex had a magic penis that could make me touch the stars and see God. I was not going to jeopardize my job, my relationship with Oli, my pride... just because my hormones went hysterical around the man. My oxytocin levels didn't define me.
Apart from our trip to the salon, we barely got out, like the couch worms we were. Eventually, when Saturday evening came, we considered going to a bar for some much-deserved glasses of wine, but then decided the wine at home would be perfect.
On Sunday, Kate accompanied me to take care of my abandoned car, having it towed by a mechanic. The man at the garage explained to me he'd take a look at it, but advised I should get a new car instead, as the reparation costs would probably be higher than the car's current value. Although I technically had money now, it was hard for me to decide to invest in a new vehicle. Avoiding unnecessary waste had been a part of my education, so as long as my car wasn't falling apart, I'd keep using it.
When the time came for Kate to leave, I walked her to her car. We hugged for the longest time and promised each other we'd meet again soon. It had been amazing to see her, even for a short time like this. We agreed that the next time she'd be here, we'd go on a tour of the city. I still had a lot of places to visit, and Tamika was more than happy to guide us around the city she was born in.
The night from Sunday to Monday provided little rest. I kept tossing and turning, wondering how things would be in the morning. I had no idea how I would act around Lex and even fewer clues as to how he would be. In the sale contract, I had negotiated a binding agreement stating I would get to work on my app, which meant he could hardly find an excuse and fire me. The potentiality of a lawsuit for sexual harassment against him was also protecting me. It didn't matter if I had been the one grinding on his lap, or if I had been more than willing. He was my direct superior, so he was the one at fault in the eye of the law.
Of course, since I had some decency, I would never sue him for this, when he'd done absolutely nothing wrong. Although, back when I'd first started, when I'd mistakenly believed his coldness and rude manners to be sexism, I might have considered bringing it up with HR. But now that I knew the man better, I realized he only happened to act like a jerk fifty percent of the time. But while it didn't make for a pleasant working environment, it wasn't a crime – or else, half the population would be behind bars.
When my alarm rang on Monday morning, I had scarcely slept for three hours at best, and I was in no shape to face whatever the day would throw at me. I considered the idea of not going to work today, to call in sick, but it sounded so coward-ish that I dismissed it right away.
I got ready, preparing myself physically and mentally, and Tammy and I left for work. During the bus trip, she saw something was wrong with me, but when she asked what it was about, I dismissed her concern by pretending to have a headache and to suffer from sleep deprivation because of it.
Once at Kelex, when we reached her door, we separated and I went to my temporary office. Straightening up and keeping my head high, I entered with the best poker face I could muster, ready to act as though nothing had ever happened.
To my relief, Lex wasn't in yet. My strong facade deflated at once, reassured to see the confrontation wouldn't be happening right away. I went to my side of the desk, turned my computer on, and sat down to stare at my keyboard, holding my head between my hands, elbows off the glass desk.
Today, Steven and Mason were starting their work on the app. I had already built up a work schedule and prepared the scripts they should start working on, but I had intended to make Lex go through it, to confirm it was all good.
Deciding it couldn't do any harm, I went downstairs to give them the schedule, and as soon as I reached the Troll's Lair, a mini heart attack struck me.
He was there. Lex was at his desk with the guys.
So, as it turned out, he was as unenthusiastic to see me as I was to see him. To the point where he'd actually relocate his workspace. I swallowed the lump clogging my throat and cleared my voice.
"Hi, guys," I said, hoping I would sound natural. They lifted their heads and greeted me back, except Lex, who imperceptibly tensed.
Oh, how I hoped he would allow me to move back down here now. Ignoring him, I went straight to Steven. Oliver gave me a wink and a grin when our eyes met, and I smiled back. The day after tomorrow, we were going on our date, for real this time, and I was eager for it. Surely, going out with him would take my mind off the man I didn't want to think about.
"Hi, bear. Do you have a minute for me?" I asked Steven when I reached him. He nodded, readjusted his glasses, and turned to me after hitting a quick Ctrl+S to save his script.
My position here was delicate. I was still everyone's colleague, a junior one at that, but I was also the project's supervisor. While I could give them orders, I didn't like the sound of that. I hadn't been here long enough to deserve any type of authority over them. Steven had been around for six years. He and Oli were the most seasoned employees on the team. So me ordering him around felt wrong.
The fact that I was a woman also meant I had to remain friendly and cute, or I would become a stuck-up bitch. One of the fun sides of the patriarchy. Well, the guys didn't seem like that, but still, I didn't want to jeopardize what we shared. And anyway, I was always friendly and cute, so it wouldn't require too much effort.
"So, I was told you were the man to talk to, when it came to facial recognition," I said to Steven.
"I am indeed, Milady. I worked for Snapchat for a bit before I came here."
"Great! Well, this is a bit different. Basically, I need you to work on mouth movement recognition, for when the person speaking is talking, so if we are in a crowd, a bar, or something, the algorithm can cross-check what it sees with what it hears, so the other one doesn't end up with someone else's words." He nodded, listening to me with attention. "I found some free scripts and added some of my own to them, then entered a few mouth positions I associated with letters and syllables. Maybe you might have a better one, or maybe you could improve this one?"
"I most surely can. I'll just finish the work Lex gave me, and I'm good to go, boss."
Boss... He hadn't meant it as a way to tease or mock me, but it still affected me. I didn't want to be seen as their boss.
"O— Okay," I stuttered. "I'll send you the path to the directory, and you can check on it whenever you want," I proposed, hoping it was as unauthoritative as I had meant it.
My next stop was with Mason, and I went straight for him. "Hi, doll," he greeted me when I reached him. Well, 'doll' was already much better than 'boss'. We spoke for a moment, and I explained what it was I wanted from him. Once done, I exited the room, having managed to not cross Lex's gaze even once. In truth, I hadn't even looked at him at all. It was, by far, the safest thing I could do.
I returned to the upstairs office, and sat down before my desk, realizing I had this gigantic office for myself. At least, until Lex decided to come back up here. It was hard to guess if his eagerness to be downstairs was because of cowardice, respect, anger, annoyance, or if he really needed to work down there. It was, however, good to know I wasn't the only one disturbed by whatever had happened in his car.
Before those lusty thoughts invaded me again, I shook the memory out of my head and got on to my work. I sent Steven and Mason whatever they needed, and opened the scripts I planned to work on.
Despite my focus, I was constantly distracted by the fact that Lex could come in at any second. Every time I heard someone's footsteps, I'd tense, and every single time someone knocked on a door in the hallway, my heart would drop. I wanted to live a long life, and this situation was not good for my health. Something needed to be done about this before I went mad. All the way to lunch, I was alone in the spacious office. Dakota, Tammy, and Kat were my lunch buddies, providing me with some human warmth before I had to go back up. Confident the room would still be empty, I entered the office with energy.
It wasn't empty.
Lex was on his computer, working on something. Our eyes met over his screens, and I held his gaze for as long as I could – it didn't last very long – before looking away and moving for my seat.
"Don't worry," he said, going back to his task. "I just need a few things, and I'll get back downstairs," he coldly explained.
Okay, so him working with the guys wasn't out of necessity. But was he doing it to give me space, or for himself? We were both grown adults, so going to these lengths for a kiss seemed ridiculous. Even if it had been the most incredible kiss of my life, and I had almost gotten his dick inside of me in the process.
"Don't feel obliged to on my account," I said, trying to be professional. "We agreed it was just a drunken mistake. On my part at least," I quickly added, remembering his disconcerting words. When I finished my argumentation, my voice was trembling slightly. "It was just a kiss."
His gray eyes instantly looked up for mine, some sort of anger veiling them with a dark and menacing mood, clearly visible behind his glasses.
Well done, Andy. Way to put your foot in your mouth...
Although many thoughts seemed to cross his mind, he didn't say anything and returned to his screen. Feeling small and intimidated, I sat down in my chair and tried to get back to work. We remained in utter silence for a long time, and my attention span became that of a four-year-old. I checked on the schedule and wondered once more if Lex could give me his opinion.
"Hmm... Would you mind checking on the shared calendar and tell me if everything seems all right to you?" I asked, trying to give my voice some assertiveness I most definitely wasn't feeling.
"I've gone through it already. I didn't see anything wrong."
Well, coming from him, it was almost a compliment. I returned to my things, and after a moment, he turned off his computer and unplugged his hard drive, before standing up to leave. Twenty seconds later, I was alone again. I let out a long sigh, the tension leaving my body slowly.
I sincerely hoped things would settle down soon because I clearly couldn't work in this situation for long.