Time passed strangely fast, probably due to the fact that I couldn't focus on the task for more than half a minute at a time. Eventually, I noticed that she was reaching the end of the script, and it helped me get my mind back on track.

I checked my watch and saw that she only had about a minute left. From what I'd seen, she had only missed one thing, earlier in the script. She would have spotted it, had she had enough time for one last sweep. Without the thirty minutes I had taken away from her, following her bold remark, she would not get the chance to do it.

We arrived at the end of her time, and I reached for her headset, lifting it away from her ear. The incoherent muted song became louder for a second, but I ignored her strange choice of music. "Time's up, Andrea," I told her.

She lifted her hands from the keyboard, and turned to me, curious to see if she'd nailed the test. Her effort was commendable, which I made clear with an agreeing expression. "Not bad," I conceived. "But, it won't work as it is." With efficient moves, I took her place in front of the computer and scrolled up the script to change the one mistake I had spotted earlier.

She grunted her frustration, and a few of the guys around us seemed disappointed too.

"It still was quite impressive, though," I decided to add, to make her feel better about that tiny mistake. "We'll have to run some tests, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I guess I misjudged you. Welcome to the dream team, Andrea." I removed my glasses and tucked them back into my shirt.

"Andy," she answered, asking me to use her nickname. No, that wasn't happening. I wasn't a nickname person, and I associated Andy with Andrew. She was Andrea, and I would stick with that.

Well, now I needed to get out of there, to get away from the sweet temptation she offered. Hoping that the slight bulge under my jeans wasn't too noticeable, I stood up and went for the door, before turning around, half out of the room. I gave the guys a few orders to get things started with the new recruit, and left them.

On my way back to my office, I tried to understand what exactly had happened down there. Yes, she was pretty, but she was far from being the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen or had. She had some spine on her, which maybe was one of the reasons for my enthrallment. That, and the lack of proper sex. Once in the hallway that led to my office, I took out my phone and quickly went through the contacts list. I found Celeste, determined to send her a message. Her enjoyment of sex, her flexible body, and her gifted mouth would undoubtedly distract me for the night. By tomorrow, the little brunette downstairs would have lost her appeal.

"Hey, bud," said someone behind me, catching up with my fast pace. I turned around to look at Kevin, my oldest friend, co-owner of the company. We were opposite in so many ways, but he was one of the very few people I kept appreciating over such a long period of time. We'd known each other for over twenty years, and there was frankly no one else than him with whom I could spend so many hours in the same room.

"What's up?" I asked him, still typing my message for Celeste.

"Not much, how about you?" he asked back, glancing at my phone's screen. "Celeste? I thought you weren't seeing her anymore," he noted.

I grimaced, not certain how I should explain it to him. Knowing that my very romantic best friend would frown upon my absent love life, I simply shrugged my shoulders, before putting my phone away, deciding that I would finish my message later.

I wasn't looking for a relationship, and I had taken the habit of stopping things as soon as the woman decided she wanted more than casual sex. I didn't have time for the whole dating, caring, and being there shenanigans. I wanted something simple, with an accessible woman looking for the same thing a few nights per week. It seemed impossible to find, though.

I'd been seeing Celeste for a few months until she'd started to get too involved. She had grown possessive, and I had broken things off with no regret. She'd contacted me a while after that, explaining she knew she was wrong, and that she'd like for us to see each other from time to time. Seeing her was easier than finding someone else, so I had reluctantly agreed. Now, we saw each other now and then, for an intense night of sex, and that was about it. She was seeing other people, I was seeing other people, and things would not get sentimental again.

Kevin shook his head, perfectly knowing what it was about, and we both walked to our offices, mine and his being side to side. "Wasn't your wonder-coder supposed to arrive today?" he asked as we reached my door. "What was it, Andrew?"

"It was Andy. Which turned out to be Andrea," I explained, trying to sound casual, even though I wasn't.

"Oh, nice, a woman. It was about time you had one in your team."

"I don't hire regarding gender," I started, ready to defend myself.

"I know, I know. You only hire based on competences. Still, it's good that there is a woman. She'll bring some calm to the group," Kev pointed out. I held back a doubtful laugh. Something told me Andrea Walker was not the calm type, from her fiery temperament to her shirt and her choice of music. "So, she's good?" he asked.

"I think she is. I think she is very good," I admitted.

"Better than you?" he teased. I didn't even answer, giving him an unamused glance. Not to be cocky, but no one was better than me. "Alright, I'll leave you be. Ah! Michelle is coming over for lunch. I'm going to eat out with her, and she wanted you to join us."

I nodded, unfazed. I was now used to him spending his lunches with his pregnant wife. They needed all the time they could get before the arrival of the baby. "I'm good. I have things that I need to tend to. See you later," I told him before disappearing in my office.

The thought of Andrea remained with me during the rest of the morning, lingering in the back of my head. I still hadn't sent Celeste the message, uncertain that it would help with my peculiar situation. It wasn't between Celeste's slender long legs that I wanted to find bliss.

Still, I managed to get into my work, and I forgot about the time until I received a message from Oliver. "We're initiating the newbie to our CS game. I thought you might want to join," it wrote. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should or not. I hadn't played with them in months, the appeal of it having faded off, but it now seemed impossible to resist the temptation. I was curious once again. Curious to see what she was worth.

Not wanting to dwell on my conflicted thoughts, I launched the game, ready to join them. As I waited for the old video game to restart, I went through the currently playing users and stopped when I arrived on She-Hulk. It had to be her. I smiled as I realized she was on the terrorists' team. She was trouble. I looked at her character move around, unarguably impressed with the way she was playing. She obviously had played many hours of FPS. When the terrorists won the game, I went into the counter-terrorist team, out of habit, but also to balance out the odds. The other team had Steven and Andrea. It was only fair that I helped out the others.

It took me a few minutes to get back into it, but when I eventually returned to my usual capability, I slaughtered them. Quickly, the thrill of playing came back, and I wondered why I hadn't joined them in so long. It was the perfect way to relax during lunch. I had to admit that knowing she was playing was part of the appeal.

I killed her a few times, which seemed to infuriate her, especially when I stopped her from planting the bomb. She retaliated by managing to kill me a few times. Yes, it was all very entertaining.

At some point, people started to log out, and I understood that the break was over. I glimpsed at the final scoreboard, satisfied with my numbers, given that I'd joined later on. I exited the game and unenthusiastically stared at the pile of legalese I had to take care of.

During the next hour, I worked on contracts, legal stuff, and various lawyerish things, hating every minute of it. Damn, I hated lawyer jargon. Once done, I took the pile of documents and exited my office, to give them to the one who would take care of those.

I was walking down the hallway, rereading a complex paragraph, when a soft shape violently collided with me.

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed the owner of the shape, and I tensed when I understood who it was. I looked down at Andrea, who stared at me with shock. She still had her hand halfway in the air, and I saw her phone on the floor.

Well then, texting and walking could cause accidents, too. Not that I was complaining.

I bent to take her Samsung for her, since she didn't seem to act on it, and I couldn't help but glimpse at the screen. I had coder's eyes, meaning that I was used to reading a lot, and quick to spot things. I didn't try to resist the temptation, and read whatever she'd been texting, only getting the end of it before having to look away: "... great, except that my boss might simultaneously be a sexist asshole and the hottest man I've ever gazed upon..."

Hiding my smile was nearly impossible when I handed it back to her, but I managed. She really didn't like me. I couldn't exactly blame her, given the fact that I'd treated her as a fraud at the very start.

"You should look forward when you walk," I told her, touching my glasses, trying to find composure. She boldly eyed the pile of documents I had been reading while walking, and I understood that she was passing the blame onto me. Her audacity amused me when it would have normally been annoying. Once more, things were off when it came to this woman. "I was working, you were texting. Not the same," I pointed out. She nodded, docile for the first time since I'd met her, and it was as enjoyable as her boldness. "Are you looking for HR?"

"Yes, they sent me an email. I have to sign my contract."

"Third door on the left, then," I explained, before resuming my walk to my destination.

I couldn't help but rethink about the text she'd just send. "Sexist asshole" was maybe a bit much, wasn't it? I didn't want her to hate me, not right from the start, at least. If she was going to despise me, let it be for a good reason, and not because of a misunderstanding.

"By the way, not too bad, She-Hulk," I impulsively added, turning to her.

I regretted it instantly and turned back around to get to the R&D office.

Not too bad, She-Hulk? Fucking idiot.

Once more, I wasn't here to make friends. I had stopped caring a long time ago about what people thought of me. So what if she hated me? It wasn't as if we'd become friends or anything. Yes, she was intriguing and incredibly appealing, but I wasn't getting involved with an employee. I wasn't willing to risk an HR nightmare because my cock acted up when she was around.

I reached the door, knocked on it, and went in, deciding that I was seeing Celeste tonight, sure that it would solve this matter.

Andrea Walker was just a whim. It would go away rapidly.