The Start-Up

by A K Kingston

  “The only girl he could find? Right. Isn’t he hot as hell? You might have mentioned that. Couldn’t he get a date anywhere like off the street? And isn’t this the player?”

  Fi lifted Tessa’s coffee up to her lips. “He was a player, but he’s probably out of practice or something.” She took a sip.

  “I’m not convinced he couldn’t just find someone else. He likes you.”

  Fi shrugged her off. “I don’t think so. Okay, maybe? I don’t know. I think he said I was sexy, but I’m not really sure.” She waved her hands in the air. “It doesn’t matter. I’m completely off limits to them anyway.”

  The waitress set a coffee cup in front of Fi. “Good morning!”

  “Thank you!” Tessa said. “We both need our own coffees. I need all the caffeine I can get.”

  The waitress laughed, “No problem. What can I get you two? The usual?”

  Tessa said, “Absolutely!”

  Fi said, “Actually for me: I’d like to try the French Toast today. I always get the same thing. I’m feeling adventurous.”

  “I must say I’m pretty surprised. You’ve ordered an egg and cheese omelet here every single time. French toast is a good choice,” the waitress remarked as she walked away.

  “Who are you? Not ordering your usual omelet? Going on dates?” Tessa said.

  “One date. And it’s not a real date.” She hadn’t gone on a date in months. Gipton had drained her on a daily basis. Not only because of her workload but having to see Trevor every day. They weren’t working on the same projects, and she knew what areas of the office to avoid running into him, but still. Her time at Gipton had been wrapped up in her relationship with him. She had trouble separating the two entities. After an entire day of trying to avoid her ex-boyfriend, she didn’t feel up to going out and meeting anyone. Avoiding Trevor at work had become exhausting. She’d tried to muster up the energy to go out on a date, but she found her mind always wandering back to work. Why bother?

  “What are you going to wear?” Tessa asked.

  “I have no idea. That’s why you have to go shopping with me. Crawford gave me the company card to go shopping.”

  Tessa’s eyes sparkled, “Oooh! Fancy! But wait. Crawford? The asshole?”

  Fi laughed, “He’s not always an asshole, but ya. The asshole.”

  “I guess not, if Mr. Strict Rules is giving you the company card to go shopping.”

  “Ya, and I was so freaked out because I spent the night there last night.”

  Tessa spit her coffee back into her cup. “What? Why wasn’t that first thing you told me? Who did you sleep with?”

  “No! It wasn’t like that. Adam and I were up late working.”

  Tessa gave her a hard look. “Seriously? Nothing happened?”

  Fi looked away, fiddling with a button on her skirt. “No. Nothing happened. I’m not entirely sure if something happened, but nothing happened.”

  “Your sentences do not make any sense. Did you or did you not bone someone last night?”

  “No!” Fi exclaimed. “I didn’t bone anyone! It was work. All for work.”

  “Oh no, really? I wish you did bone someone. I hate that you worked on a Friday night. Remember when you worked long hours at Gipton? You’ were miserable. Don’t burn out again.”

  Fi remembered those long hours at Gipton. She worked late in the office and when she got home, she worked some more. Trevor encouraged her to work as much as possible, because she needed the practice more than anyone. When she was done with her assigned tasks, Fi used those extra hours to take computer science class online. She’d taken a pretty rigorous algorithm class. What she learned is what she applied to her work with Luv Maite.

  She explained, “This is different. It doesn’t feel like work. I love what we’re doing, and Adam is a really sweet guy to work with.”

  It was true. It was a totally different atmosphere to work with. Trevor had stressed her out. “It isn’t enough to get a job at Gipton, it only really shows something if you keep a job at Gipton.” Fi felt as though her programming skills were always being tested. None of her technical leads pressured her, nearly as much as Trevor. Adam was a much better mentor. He encouraged her.

  Tessa guffawed. “Sweet, huh? Is that all?”

  Fi laughed. “Okay. So he’s also smoking hot, but that has nothing to do with me wanting to work late.”

  “Uh huh,” Tessa goaded.

  “I mean: he isn’t bad company. Or bad to look at. It’s not even about that! I love the data analysis we are doing. Luv Maite is going to be so much better than the other dating apps out there. I feel like I’m part of something. And Crawford didn’t freak out about me staying there over night like I thought he would. I feel like I’m on a team. I never felt that way at Gipton. I felt like I was just a cog in a huge revolving wheel.”

  “Have you ever thought that Crawford made up that stupid rule because he likes you and doesn’t want anyone else to have you?

  Fi laughed. “No! I definitely have never thought of that. He is a hard guy to read, but I definitely don’t think he thinks of me like that. He’s only giving me the card because it’s a work event.”

  Tessa smirked, “We’ll see.”

  “Anyway, I need you to help me find a killer dress.”

  “Why? Isn’t this just a work event?” Tessa sneered.

  “Tessa!” Fi whined.

  “I’m just kidding! I happen to know of a trendy little shop, Heart and Blue, that’s having a sample sale today.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “Nope. Today is your lucky day!”

  The women scarfed down their breakfasts. Tessa took her to Heart and Blue, an uber chic shop in San Francisco. Heart and Blue made gorgeously tailored dresses available in an array of eye popping colors hung on the racks. The cuts had contemporary structure with a hints of femininity.

  Fi flipped through the dresses. They were all so cute. She couldn’t decide, but then one dress in particular was it. She felt it. This was the dress. It was purple with a sharp angle neckline and ruffles down the other side.

  Fi asked Tessa, “Do you think I can pull it off?”

  “What? A Heart and Blue dress? Of course!”

  “No, I mean…” Fi’s voice trailed. “Do you think I can pull tonight off. Blaine is probably used to sophisticated women who wear designer dresses every single day. I’ve definitely cut back on my casual wear at the office and wear, at least, two dresses a week, but…”

  Tessa grabbed her old friend’s hand. “You are a sophisticated woman. And a dress is just pieces of fabric stitched together, if a woman doesn’t let the dress wear her. You must wear the dress! You got this! Repeat: I am a sophisticated woman!”

  “I am a sophisticated woman!” Fi squeezed Tessa’s hand just as the waitress arrived with their breakfast. “You’re right. I got this!” She giggled as she took a cut into her French toast. “Besides, it’s just a work event.”

  Chapter 8

  He’d seen her in a range of different outfits at that point. From workout gear to chic office dresses. But nothing could have prepared him for how she looked when she showed up at their house. He heard the clack of high heels on the wooden floor in the foyer before he saw her.

  She had on a bright purple off the shoulder dress. It fit her perfectly. Her hair was down around her shoulders. She was breath taking.

  He wasn’t quite dressed yet. He was in the kitchen drinking a protein shake. He’d just gone for a quick swim in the pool. He stood there with a towel hanging off his shoulder and damp swim trunks with his mouth hanging wide open.

  She saw his face and smiled. “Hey. Are you okay?”

  He snapped out of it, trying to act suave. “Ya! How are you? You look incredible.”

  She spun around with her hands to her size. “Do you like it?”

  Adam walked in with his laptop. “Hot damn! I love it!”

  Fi fingered the frilly fabric slashing down the front of the dress. “I wasn’
t sure if it was appropriate or if it was too much.”

  “No, you’re perfect,” Blaine said. “I mean: it’s perfect”

  Crawford came down the stairs and in the living room. Fi opened her pearl clutch and handed him the card. “I got this dress at a sample sale. I didn’t spend very much.”

  He gave her a once over. His face was indiscernible. “Great! Thanks.”

  Blaine ran upstairs to get ready. He’d never had jitters before about going on a date with girl, and it was technically not even a date. Adam was definitely attracted to Fi.

  What man wouldn’t be?

  Crawford. He’s still so stuck on Jessie. It really sucked that she left all her stuff there and then just ghosted. She was purposely making him hold a candle for her, which wasn’t fair.

  But Fi was off limits. He had to keep telling himself that for the rest of the night.

  He toyed with the idea of what if tonight was a real date. As he showered he imagined her beautiful body without that dress. He imagined her plump lips all over him.

  Could he do that to Adam? Adam already had such low self esteem, left over from being a scrawny kid.

  Then again, shouldn’t Fi choose who she wanted?

  But then again: what if she wanted none of them?

  None of it really mattered anyway because no one could date her.

  When he walked downstairs, he overheard Crawford and Fi talking. The way Crawford talked to her reminded him of how he was with Jessie. Could Crawford be interested in Fi?

  He spied them at the counter looking across from each other. Crawford was actually smiling and enjoying himself. It was a nice change to how he’d been the last few months after Jessie broke up with him. Having Fi around had loosened him up. That was a good thing.

  He’d put on his best suit, a custom tailored one he’d gotten in London. He cautiously walked into the kitchen, feeling nervous even in his best suit. He normally wouldn’t have worn it on any normal date, but this wasn’t a normal date.

  Damn it. It’s not even a date. It’s a dinner for the company!

  Seeing Fi looking so beautiful had rattled him. Crawford and Aiden had been right about needing a break from his constant stream of women. He hardly ever cared about them past their looks. He’d gone out with models he would never get worked up over.

  It’s when he stopped this habit and blocked his revolving door he began to actually see women for who they were. With sex off the table, he noticed the actual personality of a woman. Many of the young hot women out and about in town were, if you listened to them, uninteresting.

  An old girlfriend, if you could even call her that, Jennie was in town and called him. They’d met for coffee. Jennie was just as beautiful as ever. Her long slender legs showcased in white hot pants and a macramé top.

  Sober, he noticed how little she had to say about anything that was remotely interesting to him.

  “What have you been up to?” he asked.

  “Oh. Traveling. You know how it is.”

  “Oh ya? Where?”

  “Was just in Paris.” She rolled her eyes. “You know Paris is really beginning to lose its charm. It’s so cliché.”

  Blaine happened to really like Paris. He thought of it as one of his favorite cities. His parents had taken him there on a family trip when he was six years old. He remembered looking up at the Eiffel tower and thinking it was magical place a powerful wizard lived. He was a silly kid. Kind of dork back then.

  “I mean, because everyone knows Copenhagen is the new Paris,” Jenny quipped.

  Blaine sensed Jennie was spouting off something she’d heard or possibly read on Instagram, but he pressed her anyway. “Why? Give me an example of why.”

  She batted her eyelashes at him, looking perturbed. “I don’t know. It just is. I thought everyone knew that!”

  They’d finished their coffees and said goodbye. Jennie was a bona fide knockout. The Blaine of before would have probably fucked her in the café’s bathroom. He couldn’t do that now. She was insufferable. How had he ever found her attractive?

  Fi was different than any girl he’d normally been after. Hot. Smart. Genuine. A childhood spent in country clubs and an elite prep school had not done him any favors. Genuine people had been rare in his life. He saw in Fi a woman that was humble and not interested in keeping up with impossible standards set arbitrarily by others. She wasn’t caught up in being an Instagram babe. She was intriguing as herself.

  He walked downstairs grasping the banister with a shaky hand. What if she found him too dull? What if she didn’t have a good time?

  He tried to keep these thoughts under wraps, but when he saw her leaned into Adam, looking over his shoulder at his computer screen, his heart dropped into his stomach. She was so much out of his league. Out of the three of them, he was definitely not the smartest. He had his talents. Mostly with dealing with people and handling investors. That was not even because of his MBA. He was good at that because of his upbringing. He’d schmoozed with the rich and famous since a small child. Any business acumen he had, he’d gathered from his father, an unstoppable oil tycoon. He wondered if the support Luv Maite had gotten so far was because of him or because of his illustrious last name. He doubted he’d ever know the answer to that. He was afraid to know the answer anyway.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  Fi straightened up from bending down and looking at the computer monitor. Blaine tried his best not to look at her thick gorgeous ass.

  She smiled. “Yes! I’m starving.”

  Chapter 9

  Blaine looked hot. A lump formed in her throat when she saw him dressed up looking so sharp. He always looked good and had impeccable fashion sense, but that night, in his suit, he looked like a movie star, a leading man.

  They met the Whartons at The Cliffside, a swanky restaurant in San Francisco. As they walked up to the table, Fi felt a tremor of anxiety. Travis Wharton was a man in his fifties. With graying hair on his temples and deep wrinkles around his eyes, he sat at the table with authority. His wife, a woman with a severe stare, sat next to him. These were important people that could help Luv Maite get off the ground. She didn’t want to blow it.

  Fi had been so worried about how she would look and act with Blaine, she hadn’t even considered what the social climate would be with the Whartons. They didn’t look friendly. She cringed at the prospect of the dinner becoming a disaster.

  She scolded herself. Negative thoughts influence the future. She repeated it again in her head. Negative thoughts influence the future.

  She took a deep breath and plastered a giant friendly smile on her face. The universe gives you what you give it.

  “Travis!” Blaine said.

  Travis stood and outstretched his hand. “Blaine!”

  The men shook hands. Travis’s serious demeanor evaporated when he looked at Fi. He held his hand out to her. “Travis Wharton.”

  Blaine explained, “This is Fi. She is our newest engineer on the team.”

  Travis sat down. “Fantastic!”

  Travis’s wife’s face brightened. “Engineer? That’s wonderful.”

  Blaine and Fi sat down across from them. Travis’s wife held out her hand. “I’m Sonia.” She leaned in and said in a whisper. “I usually hate tagging along on these kinds of dinners. My husband doesn’t understand date night isn’t really date night if work is involved.”

  Travis put an arm around his wife. “Why not kill two birds with one stone?”

  Sonia nudged her husband with her elbow with a smile. “Am I bird? A dead bird?” She whispered to Fi, “At least, I have someone here I can talk to. Some of the wives along on these dinners aren’t… How can I say this? Intellectually inclined. Intelligence deficient?”

  Travis chortled, “Not everyone can be a neurosurgeon, honey!”

  “You’re a neurosurgeon?” Fi asked. Shame washed over her. On first glance, Sonia was beautiful and poised. She fit into the category of women of rich men who didn’t work. Or
so Fi thought. Being beautiful didn’t necessarily mean being stupid.

  Sonia nodded, “Yes. At UCSF.”

  As the waiter poured into their glasses, Travis interlaced his fingers and said, “Enough about my beautiful brilliant wife. Tell me about Luv Maite.”

  Blaine clapped his hands together. “Excellent. Let’s get to it. Luv Maite…”

  Travis broke in. “Blaine, we talked about it over the phone. I’d like to hear about it from Fi’s perspective.”

  “Absolutely!” Blaine said. “Take it away, Fi.”