by Haley Travis
Pulling into the giant warehouse at the edge of town, I parked my gray everyday car under a tree and went to the side entrance.
It took me a moment to remember the passcode, since my brother changed it every three to five days. This was why I had to be the face of our company. My brother was a genius, but he was very suspicious, and not good around strangers.
Mom had him checked out when he was around ten, then again at fourteen, but the psychologist said there wasn’t anything specifically wrong with him. He just had a different level of sensitivity to certain things. Now it was up to me to shelter him from the world as much as possible.
Losing our parents had made him even more mistrustful of the world at large. He didn’t want to interact with anyone or anything except on his terms.
Terry had finally agreed to see a psychotherapist again when I pointed out that he was becoming a little too withdrawn. It turned out that he wasn’t officially on any sort of spectrum. He was just a bit particular, paranoid, and fragile. The doctor had commended me on providing him with a work environment where he could have as much control as he needed. Keeping him calm was easier if I just let him do whatever he needed to feel safe.
Keying a pass code to enter the warehouse that had become more of a bunker, I went through the first door, then fifteen feet down the hall to key in yet another security code before making my way into the main room.
Video games were scattered throughout the area, with couches and controllers everywhere. It was our testing lounge, where we brought in carefully-selected gamers for their opinions.
We’d grown up playing video games like most boys these days, then I went to university to study business, while Terry went to our basement to learn how to take the computers apart and put them back together so they worked more efficiently.
He took some strangely specialized engineering courses, electronics, plus some unusual things like the human eye and its function, and visual focus theory.
Everyone knew that Terry was a bit different. Sometimes it was useful, and sometimes it threw others off schedule, because we would have to change our routines to work around his energy carefully.
He couldn’t stand large crowds or new people, but over the years I’d learned that if he had a little information about the people in advance, he could usually handle it for a short time.
Most people hated being interrupted when they were in the middle of important work, but it drove Terry absolutely crazy.
When we constructed the warehouse and offices for our company, he devised a stoplight system over his workroom door. If the light was red, he was not to be interrupted unless something was literally on fire. The yellow light meant that he could be interrupted, but he would be annoyed if it wasn’t necessary. I rarely tapped on the door unless the green light was on.
He also created a security system that was so intense that it annoyed the other employees. The outside passcodes changed every week, but the door into the work area changed every day. We would be sent a text with a four-digit code every morning, then we were to add our own personal three-digit code to the end of it.
As always, I played along, not wanting to ruffle any feathers. Anything that kept Terry calm and working steadily was the best plan.
Over the past five years, my little brother had designed several small inventions, and made notable upgrades to existing computer chips and processors. We’d made more than enough money to keep our company going indefinitely since we were streamlined and frugal.
But for his latest breakthrough, with its incredibly lucrative potential, I was pulling out all the stops.
Walking through the main room and down the hall, I went straight to Terry’s workroom door. The yellow light was on, so I didn’t dare disturb him. We needed everything to be absolutely perfect with the demo laptops, and there were only six days left.
I took a scrap of paper from the hallway shelf and left a note on the bulletin board outside his door. With a paper system, Terry told us, our movements and communications couldn’t be tracked.
“Just to keep you posted, I’m inviting our PR person Jenna to drop by tomorrow so that I can explain what it is we actually do. I’ve already checked her out. Went to school with her boss. Everything is cool.”
I didn’t want him to be jumpy if he saw a new person here. Our three other employees also knew to check that bulletin board regularly for info. I barely noticed them otherwise, as they soldered chips and created circuit boards according to Terry’s specs in a lab far down the corridor.
Strangely, for someone who lived and breathed technology, Terry always preferred these notes over text or email. He said it was for security, but I just think he preferred paper when he was thinking. His workspace was usually a whirlwind of notebooks and loose sheets of paper everywhere.
Walking upstairs to my office, I found myself actually tidying up the place in the hopes that Jenna would drop in when I invited her. Clearing off the desk, I removed three old coffee mugs, took out the trash, and cracked the window to freshen the air.
Normally I would do a security clearance on anyone before permitting them access to our facility. But I could see in her eyes that Jenna was an open book. I already trusted her completely. Hell – I’d almost give her my computer passwords if I didn’t think it would totally freak out Terry.
As I sat down at my laptop in my huge leather chair, I realized with a start that I’d never cleaned for a woman before in my life. I’d never been so jumpy from the thought of a woman coming into my space. And I was absolutely dying to see her sweet blue eyes again.
She likely thought I was some sort of rich asshole. I had to make her see that there was a lot more to me than protecting my company and my little brother.
I wanted to protect Jenna from anything and everything. I wanted to do something to lower her tight shoulders, to help her relax around me. More than anything, I needed to know if those lips tasted as delicious as they looked.
3
_____
Jenna
Some ladies lunch in fancy restaurants, sipping wine and nibbling on twenty-dollar salads. Since my friends and I were often dragged to company luncheons, we were sick of fancy food. We were the chicks who met in the corner of our local diner for coffee and burgers.
As I walked into Riverview Restaurant, a gloriously preserved bit of almost-tacky history, my friends were already seated in the big corner booth.
The diner had the perfect retro atmosphere without being run down. Teal vinyl seats, round steel-edged tables, and little silk flower arrangements completed the late fifties decor. The servers wore blue and white dresses, and loved giving the regulars a bit of sass with their orders.
Brynn was absentmindedly running her hand through her long auburn hair while she stared intensely at the menu, mouthing the words to the obscure fifties song on the jukebox. Corina looked up and waved.
“Hey! We beat you here for a change,” Corina smiled.
Sliding in beside her, I grinned at both of them, unable to hide my excitement. We’d gone to college together, and been each other’s mentors and sounding boards for at least three years now. Since we were all quiet bookworm types, on the edge of nerdy, we built each other up every chance we had.
They were the only people I could share my big news with.
“Get this – I have my first solo account, and it’s a big one.”
“Let me guess,” Brynn said, “The local bookstore is having a sale, and you have to convince the city that paper books are actually cool again?”
I was slightly surprised that Corina didn’t take her ever-present hardcover from her shoulder bag and smack Brynn with it. The bright blue clips sparkled in her glossy black hair as she shook her head in disgust.
“I met him yesterday,” I continued. “A guy who runs a small but powerful tech company. The details are still confidential, but I need to make him likable and seem like an insider in just six days.”
“That’s a bit nuts,” Brynn said. “
Is it just awareness? Are you going to splatter his face on billboards?”
“If you need a huge graffiti mural instead, I know a guy,” Corina laughed.
“It’s more than that.” I paused while our server poured me a coffee . “Thanks, Anna.” As soon as she was out of earshot, I continued. “He’s sort of an asshole. At least, he comes across that way a bit. Or maybe he just rubs me the wrong way.”
“Is it partially that you’re naturally quiet, and if he’s a businessman, he’s likely a lot louder?” Corina asked thoughtfully.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Brynn was staring at me very strangely. “Say his name out loud, slowly.”
“Andrew Harper.”
She turned to Corina. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah. She likes him. A lot.”
My eyes clamped shut. Of course they could see right through me. After two years studying public relations and communications together in college, with the late nights, energy drink highs, and crushing stress of last-minute projects, these two could read me like a book.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s the most beautiful, sexy man I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s a client, and nothing can happen, and he wouldn’t want that anyway.”
Opening my eyes, I looked at Corina, as she laughed quietly. “You’ve already gotten flirty with him, haven’t you?”
“No. You two are terrible people.”
“Yes, but we love you,” Brynn said, sitting up straighter. “So, what happened? Did he make a move?”
I could feel my cheeks burning, but if I didn’t tell them they’d just drag it out of me anyway. “Nothing happened. But I swear he was staring at my mouth. Does that mean anything?”
“Of course it does,” Brynn said brightly. “He thinks you’re hot. And you are, by the way.”
I appreciated my friend’s support, but I was too round through the hips to ever be conventionally hot. Not that it mattered. I’d told myself I wouldn’t even consider dating until my career was more established.
“Do you really like him?” Corina asked.
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. I can’t think about that right now. I have to focus on getting his work situation straightened out. I don’t even know what my boss might say if he found out I was…”
“Getting busy with a client?” Brynn laughed.
“Lower your voice,” I hissed. “This entire situation is ridiculous and it won’t go anywhere. I guarantee it.”
Corina patted my hand on the table. “It’s okay, Jenna. You haven’t dated very much. If you find a guy that you really click with, you have to go for it.”
I shook my head, then took a sip of coffee, trying to center myself. “No. He’s too much.”
“What do you mean?” asked Brynn.
“He’s one of those guys that’s just…” I paused. It was so hard to explain. “He apparently doesn’t understand schedules, to start. And he’s sort of a jerk about what he will and won’t tell me. I think he likes having secret information.”
I stared into my coffee for a second. How could I even begin to describe Andrew without confessing that he made my heart race, and I liked the way his colossal energy made me feel small and delicate, somehow?
“He’s just larger than life. That guy who walks into a room and everyone turns to stare.”
They both nodded, then Corina’s head turned, nodding to the door. “Sort of like that guy?”
As I swiveled my head around, my heart lurched in my chest. My elbow hit the table hard enough to make Brynn lift her coffee so it didn’t spill. Andrew waved, coming right over.
“Hi,” he said, sliding into the booth beside me just a bit too close. “You weren’t answering your work phone, and your receptionist said you might be here.”
Maybe it was rude of him to barge in and interrupt my lunch break, but his leg was pressed up against mine, causing nearly uncontrollable flutters between my inner thighs. Unable to meet his eyes for a second, I glared at my friends, hoping that they would behave themselves. “Andrew, this is Brynn and Corina,” I said quickly, as he shook their hands.
“Lovely to meet you both. I’m so sorry to burst in on your lunch like this, but I had to give you this in person.” He held out a flash drive shaped like a little silver robot.
“That’s so cute!” Brynn smiled.
“It contains all of our previous marketing, and the new materials that will be launching with our website the morning of the event,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to email it, obviously. Please guard this carefully.”
I got the sense that his paranoia wasn’t directed at me personally. “Of course. Thanks. I’ll go through everything this afternoon.” I zipped it into an interior pocket of my purse, which seemed to make him relax.
“I have a meeting for the next hour, but after that, if you need me, I’m all yours,” he smiled. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the saucy sparkle in his eye. “You should come to our lab and see things for yourself.”
I didn’t know what to say. Although it made sense to see things firsthand to understand what he was talking about, Andrew made it sound like he wanted to show off, like he was trying to impress me.
“I’m sorry to have interrupted lunch, ladies,” he said quickly, his hand casually dropping to my shoulder as he stood up. “So to make amends I’ll take care of your bill.”
“You don’t have to–”
He was already gone, giving a handful of cash to our rather shocked looking server over at the counter.
I knew that I was being completely unprofessional again by watching his strong stride until the door closed behind him. Then I turned to see Brynn and Corina staring at me with their mouths open. “What?”
“Did you not notice the way he looked at you?” Brynn exclaimed. “Wow. He is smitten.”
“Absolutely,” Corinna agreed. “He is seriously interested.”
“He’s a client. I can’t even think about that.” I noticed that my fingers were tapping on my coffee mug, and I forced myself to stop.
“Look, you said that your boss is a good guy, right?” Corina said. “And PR clients are usually temporary, or we just work with them a few times a year. It’s not like a forbidden teacher-student relationship or whatever.”
“Exactly,” Brynn said brightly. “So solve his little publicity issue, then go out with him.”
“His publicity issue is not so little,” I said slowly. “His reputation isn’t great. I’ve been looking into him, and although there’s nothing concrete except for one incident, he seems like a playboy type. Everyone wants to talk about authenticity these days.”
“A turnaround situation,” Corina nodded. “First, let’s order. Then you tell us what you can, and how we can help.”
As we all flipped our menus open, I grinned to myself. Even though we worked at different companies, the three of us were already sworn to secrecy. We often helped each other or shared resources and ideas, without sharing actual private client details. With the three of us on the case , there must be a way to make Andrew look like a good guy worthy of A-list events.
4
_____
Andrew
After dropping by JT Strategy Group and finding out that Jenna was on lunch, I could have just left a message. Instead, I pressed the receptionist for her actual location, impressing upon her the seriousness of the information I needed to pass on.
Maybe it was a bit much, but this was top-secret information. Plus, I really needed to see Jenna again, immediately.
There was no way to tell whether dropping by to deliver the flash drive would be seen as friendly, or controlling and paranoid. But I really couldn’t put our marketing materials into an email, since a few of the descriptions would let the proverbial cat out of the bag early.
There was so much riding on the launch that I should be laser-focused. So why was my heart pounding as I got into my car and drove away from the diner?
Hoping that her friends thought I was
charming, I cursed slightly at the traffic on the way to the marketing company we used on the opposite side of the city. I needed to personally pick up the t-shirts, hats, and flyers for the event, because Terry didn’t trust couriers.
All of the sponsors were going to have a ton of swag at a massive convention like this. Like the rest, I’d spared no expense. These t-shirts were exclusive designs by a well-known Venice beach graffiti artist. Since I was doing only one run, they were a limited edition and exclusive to the event.
