When I came in on Monday, I was still somehow dreamy about the quick but intense kiss we'd shared. I'd spent my Sunday working on the app, with Tammy taking care of me, bringing me food, and assisting me when I needed it.
I stood in front of the shared office's closed door, unsure what to expect. With that kiss, things had to become different. We couldn't pretend that the night we'd spent at his place was enough. There was no more hiding. Our desires were out.
Gathering my courage, I opened the door. Lex was already on his computer, as always, but my eyes were quickly drawn to an unfamiliar form in the corner of the room. Before Lex could look up at me, I turned to notice that a desk had been set up, with a computer ready on it. I looked at it, confused, and glanced at my own computer, which was still very operational next to Lex's. What was that about? I was about to ask him when someone arrived behind me.
"Hey, Andy," said Brian, very enthusiastically. He passed by me, his bag hanging on his shoulder, and then went to sit on the newly added desk.
"Hi... Brian." Confused, I looked at Lex, not understanding why he would set Brian here with us.
Lex looked at me for a moment, his expression stern, before returning to his work. As much as I tried not to let it hurt me, it stung. Was Brian here out of necessity, or was it to make sure things would remain unheated between us? Was my colleague some sort of insurance?
Struggling to hide my confusion, I went to sit and turned my PC on. The booting screen provided little distraction as I sat there, not knowing what to do or say. I needed to know. Lex had to explain this abrupt change, or else I'd dwell on it endlessly. It was entirely possible he'd brought him up here for work, and not because of me.
"Why is Brian here?" I asked, after clearing my throat.
"It's Brian this morning, but the others will take turns working here, depending on the tasks needing to be done. I figured it was better this way," he explained while staring at his computer. "It's either that, or we'll never be able to finish on time," he added, finally meeting my eyes. I nodded, deciding to believe his answer was honest and our kiss on Saturday had nothing to do with this. We were far from being done, and it made sense we had to do everything we could to finish by Wednesday.
Having someone else here made me realize how silent Lex and I usually were. It was quite nice to work again with the guys, even though it was one at a time. Brian helped on Monday morning. Then Mason was here for the afternoon. Having them nearby was undeniably helping. Tuesday it was Steven and then Joseph. The more we got closer to D-day, the more intense the pressure got.
With every hour that passed, I was more and more confident we wouldn't make it. Everyone knew that, but none of us gave up. As Kevin had said, even if we couldn't use the app for Hello World, it was still an excellent opportunity to give it a great boost.
Between the constant presence of one of my colleagues, and the intensity of the work, I never had the opportunity to talk with Lex about things other than work. Our interactions were platonic and professional, which I thought was for the best. I noticed a few times his eyes lingering on me a bit longer than they should have, which reassured me. I knew that on my part, I couldn't stop myself from checking him out. Ever since day one, actually, but I was now left daydreaming more often.
I couldn't wait for this whole thing to be over with, so things could go back to a semblance of normal.
Wednesday, I was delighted to hear that Oliver would spend the afternoon with us. Even if I was seeing him less and less as a romantic interest, he was still a dear friend, and I missed goofing around with him.
Most of the afternoon was spent testing the current app and trying to correct some remaining errors. The one thing ready for the demonstration was the double phone holder, 3D printed and ready for use. It had been conceived to take as little room as possible and be usable on various models of smartphones.
Oli and I were settled on the coffee table in Lex's office, with the proper configuration and our testing phones. We were both signing without nail polish and trying to edit the code as we went. Although it was terrible for our self-esteem work-wise – as the app wasn't catching properly what we signed – it quickly turned out to be a fun endeavor.
We would sign things, and the other had to guess what it was supposed to be. We were trying to keep it quiet since Lex was working a few feet away from us. At this point, I had basically abandoned the idea that the app would be ready, and I was using this opportunity to blow off some steam. I wasn't even taking notes anymore.
Crossed-legged on the floor in front of him, I was waiting for Oliver to sign something, my hands hiding my eyes, and as soon as he gave me the go, I looked at the phone's screen before me. We'd been doing this for about thirty minutes now, but the amusement wasn't fading off. I read what the sentence was and frowned.
"I am shaking boys in my milky garden?" I asked, confused.
"That's what it says?" he answered, turning the device to read it himself. "That's hilarious. I meant 'my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard'," he explained.
I couldn't help but giggle at the absurd translation. "Oli, you know your classics."
"What do you mean? I just happen to do a mean raspberry milkshake, and I invite the neighborhood kids to have some whenever I make it."
With an unquenchable laugh, I shook my head. I had really missed his humor. It was my turn to sign, and I decided to follow his little game. I chose my sentence and signed it, trying to be as "articulate" as possible.
"Done," I said, hoping it wouldn't be too off. He read it with attention, and a smile stretched his lips.
"That's too easy. 'There's vomit on his shirt already, mom's spaghetti,'" he proudly announced.
"What did it write exactly?" I asked, twisting it to see for myself. On the screen, there was 'Vomit on the blouse. Mom made spaghetti.' I snickered and returned the phones to their proper positions. A few other classics of rap were mentioned, and we eventually decided to do some actual work.
My current task was the sentence-building algorithm, which was Oliver's best strength, so I forced him to join me for a while. We were both in high moods, thanks to our amusing break, and working with him was a pleasure. More than once, I met Lex's dark glare aimed at us. But I didn't let it worry me too much. I had been slaving like crazy for the past week, so I deserved some amusement.
"By the way, did you take the test?" Oliver asked me out of the blue. I was confused for a second, and then it hit me. The day before, he'd messaged me an online test supposed to determine which Hogwarts' house did I belong to. I had taken it, indeed.
"I did," I confirmed.
"So? What did you get?"
"I got 70% Ravenclaw, 20% Gryffindor, and 10% Hufflepuff."
"Wow, nice stats," he conceded, suddenly embarrassed.
"What did you get?"
"Hmm... 70% Hufflepuff, and then 10% of all the others," he admitted. I tried to hold back a laugh and failed miserably. "Hey! Don't make fun of me. It's secretly the best house."
"Said no one ever," I countered. "But it kind of makes sense. Hufflepuff people are the sweetest and most adorable ones. I'm more surprised by the 10% Slytherin."
"Yes, I didn't expect that one either. I wonder who among the people we work with would be in house Slytherin."
We reflected on it for a second, and at the same time, both our heads turned to Lex, who was focused on his work. We looked at each other again, wondering if it would be possible. Lex could be the most Slytherin person in the building. He was ridiculously smart and rather cold, but he didn't strike me as cunning. But he also happened to be running a booming company with ambitions to take it even further. Yes, he could definitely be from the house of the snake.
We turned back to him, and he noticed our sudden interest in him. He looked at us inquisitively. "What?"
"Do you have time for a quick break?" Oliver asked.
"What for?"
"Just to take a quiz and satiate our curiosity."
Lex seemed dubious about the odd request, and he turned to me, wanting my thoughts on it. I nodded, curious to know as well, and Lex turned back to Oliver. "I guess I could take a break," he agreed.
Oli and I squirmed excitedly, and he messaged Lex the link to the test. We waited patiently while our boss took it, answering his questions when he didn't know the meaning of something. It made me realize Lex held absolutely no Harry Potter knowledge, especially when he asked what Hogwarts was. Luckily, the test was more personality-oriented than story-based, and Lex was able to answer most of the questions without any issue.
When he finally reached the last question, Oliver and I were positively eager to know the results. "It says 40% Gryffindor, 30% Ravenclaw, 20% Hufflepuff, and 10% Slytherin," Lex read. "What does it mean?"
Oli and I looked at each other, surprised by the outcome. So, Lex wasn't a Slytherin after all... It was an unexpected revelation. "It means you are brave, wise, and fair, with barely any cunning ambitions," I explained.
Lex looked at the screen, skeptical. After one last check, he closed the test's window. "Back to work now," he ordered, for him as well as us.
Turning to Oli, faint amusement on my face. "Okay, but for real. Mace has got to be the most Slytherin out of the dev team." He laughed and nodded, agreeing with my prognostics.
We then obeyed and got back to work. In no time, we reached the end of the workday. Oliver left at five-thirty while I stayed, waiting for the last calculations to be over. We had accepted that the app wasn't the one we'd show during the convention. Brian and Steven were ready to present their work, since Lex had made sure of it, in case the app wasn't available on time. Although the failure hurt a little, we had nothing to be ashamed of about our performance. This past week had been worth an entire month of work, at least.
The pressure was slowly lifting, and I was feeling like I could breathe for the first time in a while. Since I was here anyway, waiting on the results, I decided to work on a few things I had put aside to focus on the app. The guys had requested my help on various things, and now I could take care of it.
"You should go home. Get some rest for tomorrow," Lex declared. It was getting quite late.
"I'm good," I reassured him. The results could come in at any time now.
"Seriously, you've done enough. Go home. We've done all we could. There's no need for us both to stay late," he insisted. I wasn't about to argue with him. I was indeed tired, and I desperately wanted a shower and my bed.
Leaving my computer on, I gathered my things, getting ready to leave. He stood up at the same time I did, and I gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry this was all for nothing."
"It wasn't a pure waste of time," he countered, his sharp eyes meeting mine. There was something intense in his gaze, so I took it as a personal compliment. A slight blush warmed my cheeks and I bit my lower lip. "The app will certainly be ready by Thanksgiving now, and we'll be able to prospect for investors," Lex continued.
My slight excitement died at once, and I nodded, feeling a small pain in my chest.
"When we get back, you'll finally get back downstairs," he added bluntly.
The ache under my ribs intensified, as well as an overwhelming sense of confusion. Why did it have to be that way with this man? One step forward, two steps back. He'd kissed me. I knew he wanted me, and now he was glad to be rid of me. What the hell was his problem? He was hot and then cold, and I couldn't keep up with his mood swings.
"Where did that come from?" I asked, trying to conceal my hurt feelings.
"It will be better this way." He paused and looked at me, his eyes going up and down my frame. The topic had shifted, and we weren't talking about work anymore. "We're not compatible, and whatever this is," he said, his hand going back and forth between us, "this chemistry, it won't lead to anything good. I don't do relationships, Andrea. And you don't seem like someone who does what I do."
I didn't know exactly what he meant, but I still felt insulted. What was I? Laura from Little House on the Prairie? I wasn't some pure and naive girl, unable to make her own choices. How the hell could he know what I did and didn't do? Maybe I was up for what he had to offer. Perhaps I would be terrific at a casual sex thing. I didn't even know myself, so how could he?
"How do you know what I do or not?" I asked, holding my frame straight with my chin up.
"I have spent the afternoon watching you interact with Oliver. That's what you do. Cute relationships with someone who shares your interests," he explained, and I could hear the resentment in his voice.
Was it what it really was about? Was he jealous of Oliver? I had been careful not to be flirty in any way with my ginger colleague. Ever since I had told Oli I might never like him that way, it seemed he understood that since he wasn't flirty either. Things had been friendly and nothing more. Despite that, Lex saw him as a better alternative for me.
"It's not Oliver that I want," I boldly said. His gaze darkened, and I knew I'd gotten to him.
"I'm sorry that I've been leading you on. I am not interested in you," he said bluntly. Had his eyes not been devouring me, I would have believed him. Determined to not let him chase me away, I came closer. "You're going to be hurt, no matter what, so I'm putting a stop to it before it goes any further."
Trying to come up with something to say, I held his gaze. I wanted to prove him wrong, but I couldn't. The fact that I had already been hurt moments ago proved he was right. Nothing had even started between us, but I already had some expectations, whether I accepted it or not. Even if all I wanted, for now, was pure, cataclysmic sex, my needs would go further and further, until I'd be in way too deep. On the other hand, I might turn out to be great at it, and we'd enjoy some very pleasurable moments together. At twenty-six, I should be able to handle such things.
Right now, I had two options. I could bend to his will and let go, missing all he had to offer, no matter what it was. Or I could woman up and take what I wanted, and what I knew he wanted as well. For once, I would listen to my instinct more than my brain. At the very worst, broken hearts healed.
Eventually...
The urge to prove myself flooded me. I had to show him he was wrong about me. "We'll have to make the pleasure worth all the hurt, then," I declared, taking him by surprise.
Before he could react, I reached for his nape and brought his face to mine. He didn't resist, and a sharp shiver struck me when our lips met.
This was what we both wanted.