Code Monkey

by Mechele Armstrong

  * * * *

  Anna Marie fingered the flash drive in her pocket. She kept making sure it was there. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get to Baxter’s computer but she was going to try. She didn’t want the drive to fall out of her pocket. Or have Baxter feel it. “Is that a flash drive in your pocket or are you happy to see me” wasn’t the way she wanted to start off her evening.

  She checked the address yet again. Yes, she was at the right apartment. If she didn’t hurry up and go in, they’d spot her and wonder why she was sitting in the car, not going in.

  She marched to the door and stood outside it for a second, gathering her thoughts. She could do this. She had to do this.

  The doorbell rang and even though she’d pushed it, the sound made her jump. It’s just Baxter, relax. She wouldn’t be able to relax until this evening was over. Until she had her evidence and her promotion. Only then would be she able to relax.

  I’m not going to get distracted this time either. He may say pretty words but there’s evidence he’s not so pretty.

  It was a good thought in theory.

  Baxter opened the door. He looked a little distracted but smiled when he saw her. His mouth went from frown to smile setting a speed record. And he handed her a single rose. A red rose. He wore jeans and a button down shirt. Blue. Which made his eyes stand out. He looked so much more casual than he did at the office. He looked yummy. Not words she ever thought she’d hear about a computer geek but he did.

  She twirled the single bloom in her fingers. “For me?”

  He nodded. “I was leaving work and there was a vendor. They looked pretty. Like you.” He shrugged as though it was no big deal.

  No one had ever given her flowers before. Not even her mother or any boyfriend… No, she couldn’t be thinking of Baxter as a boyfriend. She swallowed, unsure of what to say.

  Joel sauntered to the doorway behind Baxter. “Bax, you gonna let her in or stand there at the door all night?”

  Baxter grunted and then waved her inside. “Welcome to the domicile.” He stepped aside and let her pass him.

  She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Two bachelors. Two geeks. Living alone. She might have expected fast food wrappers and shelves of cinder blocks and two by fours. That wasn’t what was there.

  A brown couch and a matching loveseat faced a big flat screen TV. There was a glass coffee table with gaming controllers on top of it and what looked like coffee table books underneath it. There was a plant in the corner that looked healthy. Everything was in its place.

  Baxter motioned her to the couch. “Sorry it’s such a mess. We didn’t get time to pick up. We were…uh…working late.”

  Joel chimed in. “Yeah, working late.”

  “Don’t even ask them on what.” Sam came in carrying a tray of chips from what presumably was the kitchen. “They won’t tell you.”

  Both of the men glared at her.

  Which was odd. Joel and Baxter might work for the same company but they were in different departments. Why would they have been together or maybe she was reading too much into their comments? Anna Marie plopped on the love seat where Baxter had indicated and Baxter sat down beside her. His leg touched hers.

  Cozy.

  No, she wasn’t supposed to get cozy with him, gosh darn it. She was supposed to find his computer. She glanced, trying to be discreet. Not in the living room. Where could it be? Kitchen? Bedroom? Which was problematic.

  “So what do you want to play?” Baxter’s eyes were so probing as he gazed at her. He seemed to see everything about her.

  But of course he didn’t, otherwise he’d see her playing him. Not a good thought. “Err…Whatever you guys want to play. Do you play in here?” Maybe that would get her access to other parts of the house if they played video games somewhere different.

  “Sometimes. It depends on what we’re doing. We can either play something and take turns with controllers or hook up the other X-box in someone else’s room.”

  That sounded like a plan. Maybe Baxter’s room so that way she could find his computer. But before she could speak up, Sam said, “Let’s take turns to start with.” She sat beside Joel and grabbed a chip. “Get to know Anna Marie.”

  Anna Marie didn’t frown or do anything that might give her disappointment away. “Sounds great.” She put on a smile.

  “Maybe we should Wii?” Joel leaned over and nabbed Sam’s chip from her fingers.

  Sam glared at Joel and raised an eyebrow.

  Anna Marie blinked at the word. “Wee?”

  The three of them laughed. Baxter sat back and put arm along the back of the love seat. “Wii. It’s a gaming platform.”

  She shivered at the warm arm that she could feel touching her even though he was a millimeter from making contact. His arm would feel good against her.

  Joel and Sam exchanged knowing looks.

  Sam grabbed another potato chip, which Joel promptly stole before he got to his feet. “So Wii it is?”

  “Looks like it.” Baxter grinned at her as Joel went over and began messing with the TV.

  “I probably won’t be any good at this.” She forced a laugh out. She’d never gamed before.

  He reached across and tucked a piece of her wayward hair behind her ear. The touch was so gentle and genuine. “You’ll be fine.” He looked into her eyes and his were shining brightly. “I don’t care how well you do.”

  Her throat constricted and grew tight. He didn’t. She could see the sincerity in him. A lot of men had asked differing degrees of things from her. He didn’t ask anything. Only seemed to want to spend time with her. Gah. Why did he have to want that? Why did he have to be so nice?

  Joel turned on the TV and music blared. “I think our guest should go first. We’ll play fishing.”

  Sam snorted. “You just like being able to hook the biggest fish. He’s such a dork. He has to win at everything.”

  Joel sat beside her and grabbed a remote. He promptly handed it to Anna Marie. “Hush woman.” That seemed to be directed at Sam.

  She’d never seen such teasing in a relationship. Her mother’s boyfriends had never acted like this. If her mother had said anything like that, they either would either have hit or left.

  “You probably should stand up.” Baxter stood with her and walked her through starting the game.

  As fishing started and she was doing miserably, he came up behind her. He held the hand holding the remote. “You should swing like this.” He showed her the correct way to handle the remote.

  His hand burned her. His body scorched her. His heat enveloped her like a glove. Her body tingled in all the right places and even a few wrong ones.

  She caught a fish. “Hey I got one!” It was her first one of the game. “It was a big one.” She couldn’t help but laugh.

  ”You’re getting the hang of it.” Baxter backed off. “Maybe you’ll give Joel a run for his money. He does like to win.”

  Joel snorted. “You two are just jealous because I win so often.”

  Anna Marie jerked another fish up. “I got another one!”

  A few more rounds of fishing, lots more laughter and good natured teasing, and Joel said, “I think it’s time to move to another game.”

  “You’re just worried that she’ll beat you.” Baxter dropped his arm a hair closer to her shoulders. “She’s getting too good.”

  “In your dreams, Poe.” Joel shook his head and leaned back on the couch. He touched Sam’s hand and held it.

  There was a lot of touching going on. Joel touched Sam every so often and she would touch him back. Baxter seemed to want to touch Anna Marie but couldn’t get up the nerve so he just came close.

  And Anna Marie had never wanted anyone to touch her more. “Can’t we play a little more of this?” And to her surprise, she meant it. She was enjoying herself.

  She closed her eyes for a second. She was enjoying herself. A lot. She liked the banter between the three friends. Not anything she’d ever imagined when she took the
invitation.

  “Yes.” Sam crunched another chip.

  “No.” Joel spoke at the same time.

  They both looked at each other. Sam blinked quickly and cocked her head to one side.

  “Fine.” Joel muttered something under his breath. “We can keep playing before we move on to something else.”

  “Ignore him. He just wants to win at something.” Sam patted his head and handed Anna Marie the controller again.

  Baxter didn’t even have to help her this time. She found herself missing his touch. His closeness. His breath on the back of her neck.

  “Oh, that’s a big one.” Sam took the last chip. “Why don’t you and I go into the kitchen and get more snacks. Baxter and Joel can figure out what else we can play.”

  “Sure.” Anna Marie handed the remote to Baxter and traipsed into the kitchen behind Sam.

  Sam pulled into several cabinets and bought down an assortment of junk food. “Having fun?”

  “I am.” Anna Marie was still surprised at that. She hadn’t expected to have fun while she was there tonight. She’d almost forgotten her mission, which came back to her in appalling clearness. She couldn’t forget what she was there to do. Could she?

  “Good. Baxter…” Sam turned her back to Anna Marie. “…is a good friend of mine. He really likes you.”

  Waves of sensations moved across Anna Marie like a sail on a turbulent sea. He liked her? That had been obvious but to hear it stated outright was still mind numbing. “He does?”

  “Yeah.” Sam turned back around, having dumped out some tortilla chips. “A lot. He’s a nice guy, Anna Marie. I hope you aren’t jerking him around for…whatever reason.”

  Anna Marie grasped a tendril of hair between her fingers and twisted it. “I’m not jerking him around.” She was spying on him. Collecting evidence to bust him for a crime. That was all. “He does seem like a nice guy.”

  “He is one.”

  “I’ve known a lot of guys who seemed nice and weren’t.” Altogether too many. She had evidence that Baxter wasn’t as nice as he seemed. Or rather, Bob did.

  “Baxter is the real thing.” Sam got down a few glasses. “He is. He’s also a hard worker.”

  “Oh?” Hard worker at stealing? Anna Marie looked in the fridge. “Should I get out sodas?”

  “Yeah.” Sam sat four glasses on the counter. “Baxter operates his own software company.”

  “Oh, his hobby? He told me about that.” Hobbies weren’t anything productive. So that was what Sam considered hard work?

  “It’s more than his hobby. Joel told me Baxter is having trouble keeping up with demand because his software is getting so popular and he also has a lot of clients who want individual programs.”

  Anna Marie poured soda in a glass. That sounded…successful? “Seriously? He doesn’t just do games?”

  “Yeah. He also is starting to make more money with his own company than he does at Cybernetics.”

  “He’s not getting money from other things?” The instant the words were out of her mouth, Anna Marie wanted to call them back. Way to alert Baxter if that gets back to him.

  Sam didn’t comment on Anna Marie’s look but did look confused. “Something else? No, it’s from his company. I sometimes help Baxter with his books. He needs a real businessperson though to do things like that. We’re all just faking that aspect.”

  Sam would have noticed if the money Baxter was making came from their biggest competition. Which meant that the money she’d seen had to have been from Baxter’s own company. “Ah. He must be…successful.”

  “He is. He’s doing well with his own company. Joel said he needs to leave but…doesn’t want to. Yet.”

  Anna Marie poured soda in the third cup. “Wow.” He must be doing well with his company to be contemplating leaving his job. That sounded like more than a hobby or being frivolous with his time. She’d had no idea he was that successful. Because she hadn’t asked. She’d assumed things about him. She’d always heard the word assume makes an ass out of you and me. It definitely had her this time. Not to mention, these were the only things she could argue with herself about liking Baxter too much. Now that those impediments were removed, how was she supposed to keep herself at a distance? Figures. She would get herself into this situation.

  “Yeah.” Sam got out another bag of chips. “He’s doing great. And he does like you.” Her face turned serious. “Don’t mess with him.”

  Anna Marie helped herself to some water in the fourth glass, glad to be doing that so Sam couldn’t see her face. Sam was a good friend to Baxter. Joel too. If only she had friends like that. She didn’t. No one would defend her like this. She hadn’t had time for making friends the past years. There was too much she wanted to accomplish. But now, she was having fun with these people. Who’d have thought gaming could be fun? Definitely not her. But they made it fun. They were funny, smart. Vivacious. If this was what being a nerd was like, maybe Anna Marie should have signed up years ago.

  How could these people defend a thief though? Did he have them fooled too? Only they both seemed to know Baxter better than anyone else and they both seemed astute. How could Joel, Baxter’s roommate, not suspect that Baxter was stealing secrets from his employer and selling them? Joel was in security!

  But Bob has evidence.

  That you never saw.

  Both Sam and she loaded up on trays and drinks and went back into the living room. Anna Marie’s stomach churned. Too many questions were milling around her brain.

  She followed behind the woman she was starting to like, which wasn’t why she was there. The more she was around Baxter, the more confused she became.

  * * * *

  Baxter had had one of the best evenings of his life. It beat going to PaxEast, a gaming convention, which had been his dream for a while now. Anna Marie was everything he’d ever thought. She was beautiful. She was funny. She caught on to gaming like she’d been doing it a while.

  He’d intended to be cool to her after finding out what he had about her going to Bob’s office—even though he hadn’t been able to resist the flower for her—but once she’d shown up at his door looking so beautiful and fragile, he’d lost that resolve. He couldn’t believe what the gossips were saying. He still needed to confront her. Maybe now that they were alone, he’d get a chance.

  Sam and Joel had retired to Joel’s room with knowing winks and glances. They were going to end their evening together.

  Just the way he wanted to end the evening with Anna Marie. Maybe. He looked at her. Definitely. What was the deal with Bob? “So…word around the office is that you’ve been spending a lot of time in Bob’s office.” He put it out there. He didn’t have time for games unless they were video games, and if she were playing, he didn’t want to. He’d always been a fan of the direct approach.

  Her hand trembled on the controller. “What?”

  “His secretary said you’d gone in there a few times and spent a while. The rumors are flying.” Better she know from him than someone else.

  “Shoot. I should have known that would happen.” She took a deep breath. “Bob is mentoring me. He gave me a special assignment with Cybernetics. I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

  It was plausible. Business degrees did sometimes require internships which she might be referring to. Bob had mentored people before.

  Which meant she didn’t have to be banging him. Thank God. He couldn’t imagine Anna Marie with the little weasel. Leave it to the office rumor mill to get away from the truth. Once they’d had Rodney having an affair with the copy guy. Now that had been a funny rumor. “Ah. Well good luck with that.”

  She frowned. Looked away from him. “I think it’s turning into a dead end though. I don’t think the assignment is going to pan out.”

  That didn’t sound good. Before he asked anything else, he shot Anna Marie with a gun or rather his character did on the screen. They’d moved on from Wii and were now playing Halo on X-Box.

  “Hey.
You shot me!” She gave him an incredulous look. “I can’t believe you shot me!”

  He shrugged. “Had to be done.” He had done it to ease the tension.

  “Hmph.” Her character came back to life and promptly shot him. In the ass. “Had to be done.”

  They both started laughing.

  She held the controller out. “I’ve…I’ve had such a good time. This was a lot of fun. I like your friends.”

  “Me, too. On the good time. And liking my friends.” He set the controller down on the nearby coffee table.

  “I haven’t had a lot of friends. You’re lucky.” Her voice softened and she looked thoughtful.

  “Why haven’t you had friends?” He couldn’t imagine this creature was lonely but that’s the way her tone sounded. Her face looked wistful.

  “I’ve been busy with school the last few years. And growing up…” She stopped. “Never mind.”

  “What?”

  She frantically shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

  He leaned over and placed his hand on hers. “What?” He didn’t ask her to tell him but he tried to let her know it was okay if she wanted to tell him.

  Her eyes grew larger as they stared into his. “My mother… I didn’t like to have friends over so I just didn’t make any. My mother was…well, she was…is… she’s not the best person. I never wanted anyone to meet her.”

  Baxter had often wondered about comments that Anna Marie made about her mother. “I’d like to meet your mother.”

  “No.” Her voice was brittle. “She’s a hoarder. She’s…not right in the head. She had boyfriend after boyfriend when I was growing up and couldn’t…deal with reality. She’s the opposite of who I want to be.”

  Which explained her drive to finish school and other things. Anna Marie had opened herself up to him in an intimate fashion. He reached out again to take her hand. “You can be anything you want to be.”

  Her throat moved up and down. “You keep saying that.”