Behind it all is Damon. I haven’t seen him since the last time and aside from a few short emails, haven’t spoken to him either. It’s ridiculous, but I always feel like Damon is somehow watching all this play out from behind some curtain. I flipped through that book a couple times, The 48 Laws of Power, but he hasn’t tried to “mentor” me. I’m thankful he might’ve found another “apprentice” because I don’t think I can handle both him and Landon at the same time.
I take it back. My life isn’t in stasis...it’s a roller coaster. No, not even that’s right. A roller coaster is controlled, designed, on a track. You’re never going to fly off course on a roller coaster (hopefully). No, my life is a sailboat pushing through 50 foot swells in the middle of a hurricane. Wicked highs, long tension-filled middles, and plunging lows.
Whoa, that’s a little dramatic. I think Ali’s been rubbing off on me.
Anyway, I’ve gotta go in to work. I was up late with Landon...talking business strategies. At least the trains will be empty.
7.
Taking a half day completely threw Lauren off her stride. By the time she’d reached work, the office was in full swing. Still drowsy and drinking her first coffee of the day, everyone seemed overly boisterous and energetic. They were on her in an instant, demanding attention, her inbox overflowing with emails marked urgent.
“What’s up with you guys?” she said draping her bag across the back of computer chair. “I’m gone for four hours and you go into panic mode. You can do this without me, you know.”
Amit pulled her to the side, far enough from the desk cluster they could speak privately enough. He was the most senior programmer under Lauren and he looked worried.“Today hasn’t been a normal day. Dank Denim is freaking out. Called up Crystal this morning shouting about the widgets on their site, threatening to cancel their contract if it’s not fixed right away. Then the site went down, kept timing out and we’ve only just got it back online. Plus, Parker didn’t come in today and Faith can’t reach him.”
“Shit. Why didn’t you guys call me?” With all that happening, Lauren was surprised there weren’t literal fires burning in the corners of the office.
“Faith and I figured you needed your rest. In the two years I’ve worked here, I don’t think I’ve ever known you to take a half day.” For a person with such a normally stoic personality, it was touching to see Amit express such sympathy. Lauren’s frustration melted as she realized they’d done the best they could.
“Okay, alright, show me this widget problem.”
Within an hour all the virtual fires were extinguished and Lauren finally had a chance to sit and breathe. The office had quieted, Dank Denim was no longer shouting like it was the end of the world, and Lauren tried to gather her thoughts. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes.
“Lauren?”
“Oh God, Faith, you’re killing me,” she said without opening her eyes. “What’s up?”
“Rochelle was supposed to start her tech rotation today.”
Ugh, I’m really not in the mood to teach someone how to code today. Eyes bleary, she rocked forward. Faith and Rochelle stood in front of her desk. She hadn’t noticed it until now, but seeing them stand next to each other she realized Rochelle could’ve been Faith’s younger sister. Blonde, petite, perky, with two perfect dimples that popped out when she smiled.
“It’s okay. We can start later this week if you want.” She sounded almost embarrassed. Lauren realized she was taking her grumpiness out on her for no reason.
“No, it’s cool. Sorry, it’s just been a stressful day. I’ll meet you over at your desk in a couple minutes, okay?” When Rochelle had left, Lauren whispered, “Still haven’t been able to reach Parker?”
Faith shook her head, looking more ashamed than concerned. “We had a fight.”
“Yeah, well, he’s alive. He’s been sending me emails all afternoon,” Lauren said pointing to her monitor.
“Are you serious?” Faith said, rounding the desk so she could see the computer screen.
“Yep, actually, here. He sent one just now.” Lauren pulled up the email so she could see it. “Check the time stamp.”
(No subject)
Just got an email from Landon DeWitt, thanking me for my time. He wants to go through some of our code base, so I’ll send over an NDA for him to sign.
I said it before...I don’t know how you hooked Mr. California Surfboy but I’m fucking glad you did.
Faith scrunched up her face, shook her head, and walked away. That poor girl is all sorts of twisted up over someone so inconsequential, Lauren thought.
Grabbing a notebook and pen, she made her way over to Rochelle’s desk in the far corner of the office. She smiled brightly as Lauren approached.
“So first of all, how are you liking things?”
“It’s amazing,” she cooed, her blue eyes wide. “Since I started business school I’ve been fascinated with startups so to be here in the middle of one, especially while you’re growing and seeking Series B? It’s better than I could’ve hoped for.”
“Well good! That’s good to hear. You just finished shadowing the sales team, right? Did you learn a lot there?”
“Yeah, a lot more than I thought I would. I figured they just called people up and read a script but it actually takes a lot of skill. I couldn’t do it.”
“Neither could I, but I’m glad we have people who can. So, using the the sales team as a launching point, let me explain one of the biggest problems young companies have. Sorry if I’m repeating stuff you already know from school. There’s always this tug-of-war between developing the technology and finding customers who are willing to pay for it. First, you have to create something to sell, right? But then, you have to sell a lot more so you can hire more programmers to create better, faster tech. It’s this whole back and forth thing. You probably sat in some meetings we had when the salespeople started selling products or widgets we haven’t actually created.” Rochelle nodded tightly and with good reason. Those had been some stressful meetings. “Right, so you can’t expect a salesperson not to sell. If they know they can close the deal, they’ll pretty much do anything they can to make that happen. It’s not their fault they don’t understand how much work goes into making it a reality, nor do they really care. They work on commission and no CEO is going to rein them in.”
“Right, I can see that now,” she nodded.
Lauren went over StyleSpur’s tech stack and explained the direction they were headed over the next few years. Rochelle pleasantly surprised her, demonstrating from the beginning that she was a quick learner and eager to get into it. Asking all the right questions, taking notes, and even when she didn’t understand something her assumptions were spot on. Her face lit up when Lauren showed her Codeacademy, a free online website designed to teach the basics of a variety of programming languages.
“This is perfect. I’m gonna check this out tonight when I go home!”
“Well good! I haven’t used it myself but I’ve heard great things. I think starting tomorrow, we’ll get you to shadow Amit for a week or so, just to see how things operate on a daily basis. If you have any questions just come to me, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks so much. I was really worried about this part of the internship. It sounds stupid, but I always thought of programming as a male profession. It’s intimidating, you know? But it doesn’t seem as difficult as I’d thought. I shouldn’t have doubted myself.”
Lauren choked up a little, hearing a little bit of herself in those words. “That’s really good to hear. I think you’re going to do great.” She walked to her desk blinking back tears, happy that she might have the chance to mentor someone a little. And where will I find the time for that? she wondered to herself. Doesn’t matter. I can make time.
8.
“I will never understand why you refuse to buy an air conditioner,” Lauren groaned. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Ummm, let’s see..
.because I’m dirt poor? The last time I had one my electric bill shot up to $200. It was either that or food and I’m kind of addicted to eating. Sweating is good for the skin, so quit your bitchin’,” Ali replied. “Of course, I have to shower three times a day or I’ll smell like a sweat lodge, but that’s neither here nor there.”
The two girls were hanging out on the fire escape just outside Ali’s window, trying to grab whatever breeze decided to float their way. Lauren sat a couple steps up the stairs while Ali leaned over the railing, watching the traffic roll by on the busy street below. The still, humid air was pregnant with the promise of storms. The patches of cloudy sky visible between the buildings told the same story. It was nearly September and the city had been gripped by a scorching heat wave for eight days. Summer just didn’t want to let go and Lauren yearned for the crisp autumn air.
“Oh wait! I forgot, I did get something for us,” Ali declared, stepping her long legs through the open window. A minute later she stretched her arm out from the void, extending a glass of cold white wine. “Take it!” Lauren happily grabbed the glass and took a sip. “Now take this,” Ali declared, her disembodied arm waving up and down.
“What the hell is it?” Lauren asked once she’d reemerged, looking dubiously at the device in her hand. It was about five inches long, rounded, and made of a smooth, white plastic.
“It’s a fan, look.” Flicking a switch on the side, the object came to whirring to life. The fan was small but powerful, making Ali’s hair blow back to something Farrah Fawcett-esque. “And then if you press this button, it mists.”
Lauren switched hers on and was granted temporary relief. “Whew. I thought you were handing me a dildo,” Lauren giggled.
“Seriously? This tiny thing? Oh honey, we need to have a talk if—”
“No, that’s quite alright. I’m all set in the dildo department,” she said, taking another big gulp. The cold liquid felt great running down her throat.
“No really, I’ve got a few you could borrow if you needed,” Ali said, thumbing back inside.
“You are so disgusting. I’m perfectly happy with mine, thanks. He’s all I need right now.”
Ali chewed her lip as she studied Lauren’s face. “Still not banging Nick?”
She shook her head. “No. It just complicates things. We did once, a couple weeks after we got back together, but it wasn’t the same. I kept picturing...”
“Landon.”
“Yeah.” Lauren’s nerves spiked. She wasn’t an adept liar and here she was, walking that fine line again.
After a moment Ali spoke. “Did I ever mention how big Dane’s cock is? I mean...whoa.”
“God, yes, you’ve told me!” Lauren laughed. “This heat is doing something to your libido woman! I don’t need to know.”
“No, you do. The whole world does cause I should be getting a medal or something for the things I did with it. I wasn’t kidding about walking bow-legged.” She leaned back against the railing, her eyes flashing and a devious smile spreading across her face. “What about Landon?”
“Oh come on.” If I keep drinking to avoid her questions I’m gonna be hammered in no time.
“You come on! It might help to talk about it, get it out of your system. We haven’t had a decent sex chat in forever.”
Lauren was surprised to hear herself speaking. Between the frustrating sexually charged day with him yesterday and the overwhelming heat, it was probable her internal filter had melted. “It was good. It was really good,” she said with an embarrassed grin.
“Yeah? Go on, what about his—”
“Nice! Thick, not too long, uncut surprisingly, which was a first!” Ali grinned at that but stayed quiet, silently urging Lauren to continue. “It was different than with Nick. Like, sex with him is just...sex, ya know? Good, but just sex. But with Landon...there was genuine passion and feeling. We only had that one night at the beach but everything leading up to it had that same connection.”
“Right...”
Lauren gazed off to the far distance, her eyes unfocused as she remembered. “It was the way he looked at me. You know that night in the hot tub? After you guys left and we were in the pool, we almost did it but I freaked out and stopped. He was such a good guy about it. Didn’t pressure me, didn’t make me feel guilty, nothing like that. It’s probably just because what I have with Nick is so familiar and Landon is new, but I felt an instant attraction to him that I’ve never felt with anyone else. He could make my heart race with just a glance from fifty feet away and when he touched my back...ugh, seriously.” She went quiet, remembering the look in his eyes as he stood in her bedroom the night before. Taking a fortifying drink, hoping the flush in her cheeks wasn’t obvious, she looked to her friend. Ali stood nodding appreciatively.
“Well then...” A low, faint rumble echoed strangely against the buildings. Their eyes met and looked to the sky. “Just a big truck, stay put.”
“Doesn’t that mean something? I felt more emotional connection with someone I’d known for a day than my boyfriend of four years?”
Ali shrugged. “That’s up to you to figure out. Maybe you’re right. It was just the novelty of it that made it more intense. I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to see him again, but that’s not going to happen.”
Lauren’s heart lurched. It had been just as intense, if not more. Thinking in silence for a moment she continued, “Alright, your turn. If Dane was so big, how is it you were so quiet? I thought you were a screamer.”
It was Ali’s turn to blush. “He, uh...he liked to used accessories.” Lauren’s eyebrows shot up. “He must’ve seen it in a porno or something but he actually took my panties off and...stuffed ‘em in my mouth. Before you judge, I know it sounds weird, but it was really hot. Really, really, hot.” Ali’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fake swooned.
“No judgment here, lady. I’m thinking of sending him a thank you card cause I was able to sleep both nights you two were together.”
“If it weren’t for that, I would’ve kept the whole mountain awake.”
A bright pinkish white flash illuminated the darkening sky. Both girls screamed in surprise. As they stared at each other wide-eyed, a much louder rumble followed, a low rolling thunder.
“Yeah, that was lightning. Let’s go in,” Lauren said collecting her glass and fan.
“Aww, it’s not even raining yet! You aren’t gonna get hit. You do realize how many tall buildings there are in Manhattan, right? You’ve noticed them?”
“Don’t care. I’m going in, you can join me if you want,” she said stepping through the window, planting her foot on the step and then the floor. The studio apartment was still stifling but it beat possible electrocution. Lauren curled up in the blue papasan chair in the corner after adjusting the oscillating fan. Ali flopped on the double bed and set her wine on the floor. She looked thoughtfully at her friend.
“How long do you think you can go not sleeping with Nick before he goes crazy?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“You can’t keep punishing him.”
“I’m not punishing him!” Lauren gaped. Ali made a face as if to say, are you sure about that? “Alright, maybe a little, but he did break my heart.” She looked sullenly at her lap. “If we start sleeping together again, he’ll move in. When he moves in, we’ll fight again. When we fight, I end up crying all the time and I’m really tired of crying.”
“All I’m saying is you two might want to figure things out sooner rather than later. Either split or get back together.”
Lauren squinted at her. Where Lauren wasn’t a very good liar, Ali was terrible at keeping secrets. “What are you talking about? What aren’t you telling me?” Ali sighed and buried her face in a pillow. “Come on Llama, you can’t keep doing this to me!”
“Fine, but it’s not like I know anything for sure! I’ve just noticed...things. I see this girl at the Pony all the time now. You’d even recognize her, she’s been com
ing in for a while with friends but now she’s coming in alone. She sits at the far end of the bar in the corner and just...flirts. All night. Nick seems to just eat it up.”
“It’s probably nothing. He’s always flirted with girls to get tips.”
“No, this is different. Like, every chance he gets he’s over there talking with her, doing shots with her. There’s something more to it but I have no idea how much. It could just be flirting and that’s it but my Spidey-sense is tingling.”
“Come on. You expect me to believe he’d be doing all this while you’re in the bar? It’s not that big of a place. We know everyone there and everyone knows he’s with me.”
“But you haven’t been around much lately, have you? It’s not like he walks around with his relationship status stuck to his shirt like a name tag. People just assume you’ve split so they don’t think twice about him flirting with another girl. Besides, I haven’t always gone in,” she said sheepishly. “I walk past there to come home, right? So if I see she’s in there, I’ll just kinda...hang out on the sidewalk.”
“You stalker!” Lauren joked. She hoped by making light of the situation that sinking feeling in her stomach would go away. “It’s fine. I appreciate your concern but you know Nick. He’d never take it too far.”
Ali shrugged. “I just think something’s gotta give. You can’t expect him to handle some hot, flirty chick when he isn’t getting laid.”
“He’s still got hands and an internet connection, right? Remember, I’m not getting laid either and I’m doing alright.” Sort of...barely...
“And you’ve got this,” Ali said waving the small fan around playfully.
The streets were soaked and nearly flooded from the downpour but the storm had provided little relief from the heat. The air was now hazy and thick, the streetlights casting a yellow glow through the humidity. As Lauren walked back to her apartment she thought about what Ali had said. It hadn’t occurred to her that she was withholding sex as a punishment but once confronted with the idea, she couldn’t deny it. More than a twinge of jealousy had jolted her when she heard about this mystery girl. It felt wrong to confront him about it given everything she’d done, both months ago and recently. Her mind fuzzy from the wine, Lauren resolved to figure out how to fix the situation.
Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance Page 5