by Tia Siren
Alyssa Brennan just waltzes on over to us, and I swear the whole team is staring. But how could we not? She's fucking hot. Tight black skirt, long legs and those nerdy glasses that make her look like a sexy librarian. I never really liked short hair on girls, but damn, it really suits her.
When she walks, her hips sway just the right amount, and her curves are almost hypnotizing. I look over at Mark and he looks back at me.
"I saw her first." we both say at the same time.
"Alyssa!" our boss says, putting his arm around her and pulling her away from us. He'd made a beeline for her as soon as she walked out of the elevator. "Fancy seeing you up here!"
"Oh, uh, Mr. Rayland. I thought you were off today." she says, a little timidly, very different from how confident she looked when she walked in.
"No, not at all, very important day today." he says.
Their words sort of drift away from us as we watch the scene playing out in front of us, and suddenly the reason this floor always gets the gorilla suddenly clicks. It’s hardly a difficult puzzle to figure out. By the time we’ve watched him slowly undress her with his eyes, it’s pretty clear to us. He used their height difference as an excuse to look down her top! It’s disgusting and makes us all feel like we should apologize for our gender.
"Anyway, I have a computer to fix," Alyssa says, trying to get away from our sleazy boss.
"Oh, of course, of course." he winks at her and finally lets her go.
She then turns to us, who almost all simultaneously look away at anything but her, and walks over, looking like her jimmies have been thoroughly rustled.
"I hate that guy…" she whispers to me and Mark.
"Yeah, that can't have been fun for you… I'm so sorry." Mark replies, ever the gentlemen.
Alyssa smiles at Mark who awkwardly smiles back. "What can I do for you boys then?" she asks, looking between the two of us.
Mark stumbles over his words a little, bless him. I know how much he likes nerdy girls.
"His computer is frozen." I say for him.
"Yeah, it won't do anything…" Mark adds, moving the mouse a little with no reaction on the screen.
"Hmm, let me get a look at it?" she asks, leaning over Mark and accidentally letting her glasses drop onto his keyboard, "Oops!" she giggles, pushing them back up her nose.
I can't decide if I’m a little jealous of Mark at this point because while he is getting her chest gently brushed against his arm, I’m getting a full view of her bent-over ass. I feel like she’s doing this on purpose…
I can tell by the way Mark is getting nervous that he actually quite likes this girl, or at least, what he sees so far. But we don't know her yet. She might be completely wrong for him, and I feel that calls for a little friendly competition.
Alyssa tries a few keyboard shortcuts, then switches the monitor off and on again, before standing back up and furrowing her brow. I could see her crinkling her nose when she concentrated on Mark's computer, and I know how he likes this odd combination of cute, klutzy, and sexy as hell. It was never really my thing, but still…
"What were you doing to make it freeze up like this? Asking it on a date?" She giggles to herself at her bad joke, but still Mark mumbles a little and almost freezes up just like his computer. "There's not a lot I can do—" she starts.
"Are you going to have to get the manager?" I ask, not really thinking about it.
"I am the manager." She raises her eyebrow at me.
Wow, that was a little embarrassing. I suppose she's the one who deploys the gorilla to avoid a run in with Mr. Rayland.
"And I was going to say, not a lot I can do without a hard reset. Did you save everything before this happened?" she asks, turning back to Mark.
"I don't really remember. It was just spreadsheets and things. They should back up right?" Mark asks hopefully.
Alyssa's eyes widen for a moment and she stares "Uh—Yeah, sure!" she says, trying to keep him happy, knowing there was the very real possibility of his losing most of what he had done today.
We both watch as she gets down on her knees and crawls under Mark's desk. She presses the power button in until his whole system shuts down, then she starts tapping the tower a few times as if she were counting up to something, then presses the button again.
"Has it started up?" she asks, poking her head above the desk like a meerkat.
"Yeah," Mark replies, "It says, do you want to resume your previous session?"
"Excellent!" she says, pulling herself up, "Press enter."
Mark does so and we watch as all of his previous documents open up as if nothing had gone wrong in the first place.
"Is everything there?" she asks.
Mark flicks through everything and sighs with relief, "Yeah it's all there. Thanks so much."
"My pleasure." she says, grinning at the two of us. She notices Mr. Rayland heading out of his office at the end of the hall, "Oh, guess that's my cue! I'll catch you boys later." she quickly heads off to the elevator and frantically presses the close door button until she's safely on her way back to her IT dungeon in the basement.
"So…" I say, turning to Mark.
"Yes…" he replies, narrowing his eyes at me.
"Well, clearly, she likes both of us." I grin.
"And clearly we both like her." Mark says, a little suspiciously.
"A little bit of friendly competition?" I raise my eyebrow at him.
"Or you could just both go for it," John says from behind us. "Maybe she'll let you both in with her boyfriend."
The guys mumble a few quiet laughs and Mark looks worried.
Shit yeah, I forgot about the boyfriend. What are we supposed to do about that?
My thoughts are interrupted by Mr. Rayland, heading over to our desks.
"So you just met Alyssa huh?" he asks, a suggestive look in his eye.
"Uh yeah," Mark replies.
"Isn't she something? I hear she's looking for a new man, likes the older men if that last gentlemen was anything to go on."
"You mean she's not with anyone now?" I ask, trying not to sound excited.
"Of course, I've been turning up the charm recently, and I think she's really coming around… if you know what I mean." he grins as he walks away from our desks and back to his office.
What a creep.
"So what's the plan then?" Mark asks me, seemingly a little bit more cheerful now, knowing that we have a way better chance than that bastard.
"I'm thinking, both ask her out at the same time, let her pick who she wants to go with." I suggest.
"Ok, yeah, come up with a date plan, then ask her out at the end of the day! I like it." he replies.
"Uh, wait a minute, come up with a date plan?" I ask. He knows how I just sort of go with the flow when it comes to asking girls out.
"Come on, afraid of a little friendly competition?" he grins at me, sparking my competitive edge.
"All right then. May the best man win," I say, shaking my best friend's hand.
As the day was almost over, I was starting to worry about this competition. I usually won the girls over, but Mark is so much better at actually dating girls than I am. He knows how to wine and dine, romance and… um… well, he's better at this than me.
"Hey, Mark." I roll over to him and nudge him in the side, "You got an idea for your date yet?"
"Yes," he says, "Have you?" He raises his eyebrow at me.
"What's yours?" I ask.
"What, so you can steal it? I don’t think so," he laughs. “I know you too well. Just think of something on your own." He pushes me back over to my desk.
He's probably going to have some really creative fun evening planned and the best I've got is drinks and my place… which also happens to be his place… so that doesn't really work out well for me.
Ugh, I'll just have to wing it. The day’s pretty much over now. It's crunch time.
Mr. Rayland comes over to say we can clock out now. He thanks us for a job well done, and we all p
ack up and head out. Except Mark and I head down to the IT department.
I don't really know why they keep it in the basement. Maybe that was the only place they could keep cool enough, for all the uh…processors and…stuff? I don't really know much about IT.
We walk through a slightly dark corridor. The light is flickering which makes this place seem a bit spooky.
Mark goes on ahead and throws me a worried look over his shoulder. I roll my eyes and push forward.
We get to a door with a small window and knock. The window slides open and the gorilla's eyes appear in the gap.
"Names?" he asks.
"Uh, Miles Hanson." I say.
"Mark Abrams." Mark adds.
The window closes and we hear some distinct sounds of muttering, then an excited yell and quick shuffling.
Suddenly the door opens and Alyssa is there to greet us.
"Hey guys! Sorry about the theatrics." she giggles, "Keeps us from dying of boredom, you know?"
"Sure." I shrug, not really sure what else to say.
"Come on in." she says, closing the door behind us.
It's nothing like I pictured. It's actually kind of cozy, with a small kitchen in the corner, a couch with a big TV and some games consoles, then a few desks with state-of-the-art-looking computers and what I take to be Alyssa's office along one side.
"What can I do for you boys?" she asks.
"Well, Alyssa–" I start to say.
"Call me Aly, please." she grins.
"Ok, Aly. My friend and I have something we want to ask you."
"Ok…" she eyes us suspiciously.
"Both of us think that you're very attractive and have decided that rather than fighting over you, in the interest of keeping our friendship intact and being respectful to you, we thought we would both ask you out, and let you decide, which, if either, of us you would like to go out with." We both smile up at her and she giggles.
"This is adorable. Please, do go on." She looks up at us expectantly, her eyes looking huge behind her thick glasses.
"Ok." says Mark, taking a deep breath, "Aly, would you like to go out for dinner with me tonight? I can get a table at that fancy roof restaurant, then maybe for a walk along the riverfront and drinks to finish off?"
"Ooh, I like the sound of that." she grins, "And you?" she looks up at me.
Crap, she's gonna know I put no effort into thinking about this. Maybe she'll appreciate me speaking from the heart? Ok, big heartfelt speech coming up, just like in the movies! Save the world, get the girl and all that crap!
"Right! Well I was thinking drinks would be a good place to start? Then um…your place?"
She giggles and blushes a little. That was terrible. Well done, me. Mark is trying to hold back laughing.
"Well, I love that you put so much effort in," she says a little sarcastically, "but I actually really can't decide."
Mark and I look shocked.
"What can I say? I don't really know you guys. How about the three of us go out for drinks and I get to know you both…then I can decide?" she asks, a little too innocently.
Mark and I nod, unsure of exactly what to say.
"And besides, I'm sure you guys don't mind sharing." she says with a little saucy grin.
3
Mark
"What time did she say she was going to get here?" I ask, twiddling my fingers nervously.
"She's just fashionably late. Girls are like that," Miles says trying to calm me down. "And stop shaking your leg! You're making the whole bar shake."
I look down at my nervously shaking leg, not even realizing that I had been doing that.
"Sorry man. Didn't even notice."
"No sweat, you've just got to calm down. What are you so freaked about anyway?"
"I don't know. I like her, what if I embarrass myself?"
"You mean, she's hot, what if I make a fool of myself?" Miles laughs at me.
I can feel my cheeks going red, because as much as I pretend to be a nice guy, he is actually right. I don't really know her yet. I am just going by looks… and what John said I guess. But that's scarier than anything.
"Ok, yes, you're right."
Miles laughs triumphantly, "Ha, I knew the whole nice-guy thing was a total act!"
"All right, you caught me." I pause, a sly grin spreading across my face, "I'm just as bad as you!"
We laugh together, and Miles puts his hands up in defense.
"Whoa, low blow, bro."
The bartender drops by again and asks us if we want another beer. We look down at the ones we have, almost empty, so we thank the bartender and pay for another round.
"See, even if she doesn't show up we're still having a good time!" Miles says, downing the last of his first beer.
We haven't really talked about this friendly competition. It's not totally clear on the what's happening tonight front.
"So Miles. What exactly are we planning on doing when she does eventually get here?" I ask.
"Well, we just show her a good time and let her get to know us properly. No competing or trying to show each other up."
"Sounds good to me… But I mean what if she doesn't choose? What if she does pick both of us?"
"I hadn't thought about that...maybe we should think of some ground rules?"
I look over Miles' shoulder and notice Alyssa walking through the entrance to the bar.
"Too late now," I say, smiling and waving her over.
She notices us and waves back, heading over to our spot.
"Sorry I'm so late, guys! I was waiting forever to get a taxi over here."
"Oh, don't worry. It's a nightmare, honestly! Let me get you a drink." Miles says.
"Oh thank you." she grins, "Rum and coke please, spiced."
Well, there's Miles the cool guy, buying ladies drinks…
She looks so beautiful. Tight top, tight pants, lots of jewelry, and no glasses. It's different, but I like it, not as much as when I imagine her with messy hair, wonky glasses, and nothing but my shirt.
"Shall we go grab a table?" Alyssa says to me, a naughty spark in her eyes as we ditch Mark and grab a table in the corner.
"Did you find the place ok?" I ask.
"Yeah, cabs have a way of finding them for you." she giggles.
"Oh right, of course!" I'm such an embarrassment.
"It's really nice though, can't believe I haven’t been here before!"
"Yeah, it's got a really nice atmosphere."
We slip into an uncomfortable silence…
"So, how long have you guys known each other?" Alyssa asks.
"Since college, actually. We were roommates, then on the same course, then teammates as well!"
"Wow, you guys must be really close then, huh?"
"Yeah, as close as you can be without actually dating–" crap why did I say that? I'm such an embarrassment.
Alyssa giggles a little, and Miles joins us.
"Your drink, milady." he says as he sits down, "What's so funny?"
"Oh, Mark was just telling me about you guys in college."
"No! You weren't telling her the story were you?"
"There's a story? Do tell!" she grins excitedly.
Oh, man why did you have to bring that up? I yell at Miles in my head. Quick, think of another one that's not as embarrassing. "You mean the locker-room story or the keg-stand story?" I ask.
"Can I hear both?" Alyssa asks.
"Oh, all right." Mark rolls his eyes, then throws me a quick glance. I know exactly what he means, it was a thanks for the save look. The locker-room story is very embarrassing while the keg-stand story makes us look like heroes.
"So it was back when we first made the team, like an initiation, I think. We did it to newbies when we were seniors." I say, starting the story.
"So, we were in the showers, and it was just me and Miles left."
"I'm liking this story already…" Alyssa says with a pert grin.
"I guess the team mates knew you had to shower qui
ckly, and we were still left in there. So when we eventually got out, all our stuff was gone. No towels, no clothes, no nothing."
"Oh, that's so embarrassing! Did you have to run around naked?"
"Well, we didn't have to." I add.
"They left us a note telling us where our clothes were, and that we'd have to hide our shame. Under the note were two pairs of women's underwear."
"You're kidding!" Alyssa shouts, nearly choking on her drink.
"I wish!" I laugh. "But then Miles had the fantastic idea to show them up. We weren't afraid of them. So we ended up strolling through the halls completely naked, until we finally got our clothes back. And a serious telling-off."
"Team cheered for us, though. Girls loved it." Miles winked at Alyssa.
"That is so brilliant!" Alyssa laughs.
"Then the keg-stand story is just when we went to the biggest party at the end of the year, we both did a keg stand balancing off each other. It was kind of mad," I say. Damn, it's crazy how different college was, but I guess maybe we thought differently of the stories. Alyssa seemed to love the locker room one.
"That's pretty cool, reckon you could still do it now?" she raises her eyebrow at us, causing Miles to laugh awkwardly.
"Why don't we hear a few stories about your college life, then?" he asks.
"Well, I don't know if it was as exciting as yours. I mean I partied a lot and…I guess I don't remember it all as well as I thought." She laughs awkwardly, and her cheeks go a little pink.
"Go on, we're going to need one story at least!" I say, nudging her in the shoulder.
"Ok, all right…I remember being really close to one of my teachers—"
"Never mind!" Miles interrupts her. I guess he didn't want to hear about some older guy being all over his students.
Alyssa laughs, "Enough said, I guess! It wasn't that bad. His wife was a bitch, anyway."
"You naughty girl," I laugh, before I finish my beer.
"So, what do you guys say we go find somewhere a little noisier?" Alyssa asks.