The thought of Andrea lingered through the afternoon. My mind kept drifting back to her jasmine scent, her enticingly low voice, and the darkness in her eyes when she was becoming combative. It was rather inconvenient. I was having a hard time focussing on my work, which barely ever happened.

I was revising a faulty script, rereading it for the third time, the issue having eluded my distracted vigilance twice already, when I heard a familiar commotion outside. I didn't even need to check the clock on my screen to know that the workday was over. Employees were leaving for their homes, chatting and joking in the corridors.

I took off my glasses and passed an exasperated hand over my face, pressing my fingers on my tired eyes. My day hadn't been as fruitful as usual. I normally stayed here until late, often leaving the office when the night had already claimed the city, but I knew that it would be useless tonight. More work wasn't getting done.

After saving my scripts, I turned off my computer, took my wallet from my drawer, and got up. I grabbed my jacket on my way out and headed to the elevators. A few minutes later, I was in my car, exiting the building, impatient to be home.

I was reminded why I didn't leave so early when I found myself stuck in traffic, almost immediately after exiting the building.

Holding back a mumble of annoyance, I looked around at the busy streets, the sidewalk filled with pedestrians. A familiar frame caught my attention, and my eyes locked on Oliver who was walking to the bus stop, his red hair making him stick out of the crowd. I then noticed who he was walking with, and my interest grew.

Andrea was by his side, both of them seemingly having a captivating conversation, laughing and talking. Even from where I was, I could guess her enthusiasm. She was particularly expressive, not restraining her facial expressions and gesturing as she spoke. Since she was born in a family with a deaf sibling, it was understandable that she would havenaturally taken the habit of exhibiting her feelings.

It was refreshing, truly. I wasn't the greatest at guessing people's moods, but somehow, I could read her. She didn't repress herself or hid her thoughts. I liked that sort of authenticity. Maybe it was one of the reasons why the woman intrigued me the way she did.

Someone honked behind me, and I noticed that the line of cars before me was far gone, the street light having turned green a while ago. I apologized to the person behind, lifting my hand, and rolled away.

I needed to get her out of my head. I didn't like this situation. I had always been the master of my thoughts, in control of my emotions. I wasn't used to be distracted like this. Using the Bluetooth connection of my phone to my car, I asked the driving assistant to send a text to Celeste, asking her if she was free tonight.

The woman was wicked enough to get those unwelcomed thoughts out of my head. If she was available, I'd drop by her place, spend a part of the night fucking her until neither of us had anything left to give. Then I'd go back to my place, my needs toned down, and tomorrow would be as productive and efficient as usual.

By the time I reached my building, I still had no answer from Celeste, and although I told myself she must be busy, it seemed suspicious. She normally answered much faster. Thinking I was reading too much into it, I discarded my questions and went up to my apartment.

I pushed the heavy armored door open and entered the already lit up flat. I frowned, wondering if Mary had forgotten to turn the lights off, when I heard a noise coming from the bedroom. Oh, right, the cleaner. I was so rarely here during her hours I'd almost forgotten her existence. 

She came out of my room, holding an empty laundry basket. In her mid-fifties, she was short and broad, and one would never guess her efficiency at first glance. She always wore a bandana on her head and had a pair of crocs she wore inside only.

She saw me at the door and jumped, pressing a hand over her chest. "Mister Coleman! I didn't expect you to be here so early," she said, quickly getting over her small fright.

Katya had been working for me for the past two years. She was here three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Her hours varied from two to four hours per day, but she always left around 6 PM, which meant I never saw her. I still appreciated her meticulous work, though. The place was always immaculate, my clothes perfectly folded and organized, my fridge well supplied, the trash taken out...

"Good evening, Katya. Sorry for scaring you. Something came up, and I decided to come home early," I explained, taking my jacket off. She came toward me, gesturing to take it from me, but I dismissed her politely. "I'm good, you may go home."

"I still have the guest room to take care of, Mister Coleman," she told me with her thick Eastern Europian accent. I couldn't remember if she was from Latvia or Lithuania.

"It's fine. No one's been in there for months, and you clean it every week. I'm confident it can remain like that for another week," I insisted.

"Alright. Let me just finish putting the laundry away, and I'll be on my way," she proposed. I nodded, and she headed to the utility room.

I hanged my jacket in the closet near the entrance, and headed to my home office, deciding that I could maybe work on something while waiting for Celeste's answer.

Well, I turned out to be as useless here as I had been in my office. I was a very organized person, and I didn't like surprises. I preferred my life to be predictable, and today had been filled with the unexpected. She had been a wild card I couldn't possibly have anticipated.

Clearly, I should have imagined something to have happened since I knew so little about the new employee, but I could never have imagined that.  Andy turning out to be a woman was a minor blip, that could have been easily gone over. But Andy turning out to be this particular woman was something else.

I still couldn't figure out what made her so different.

I opened my browser, determined to learn more about her. I typed her name in the search bar, pressing enter with a little too much eagerness. So, Andrea Walker was a very common name. I went through a few pages, seeing a TV host, an author...

I added "Portland" to the search and switched to images.

I spotted her immediately. There she was, third row, the second one to the right. The image seemed quite old, but it was most definitely her. It led me to her Facebook profile, and I scrolled through her wall, looking for whatever I could learn. She wasn't very active, her posts were sparse, pictures even rarer. Thankfully, she had a friend, a Kate Knox, who posted plenty.

From Kate's post, I could see that Andrea was quite the social butterfly. There were many pictures at parties, outings, restaurants... The woman was constantly surrounded by friends and acquaintances, laughing or grimacing at the camera. Well, that was something new. A nerdy geek with an extensive social life.

I found more recent pictures of Andrea, and I clicked on one where she was alone, looking at the camera with a mischievous smile. "Happy birthday to my baby! I love you so much, never change <3" was written along with the pic. I checked the date, curious. 22nd of April.

I looked at the image, detailing her features, wondering what made her so appealing. A knock took me out of my stalking streak, and I realized that what I'd been doing wasn't quite right. It felt invasive, even though I'd done way worse than that in my days.

"Yes?" I called, waiting for Katya to come in.

The door opened, and she took a step inside. "I'm done with the laundry, Mister Coleman. Is there anything you would like me to do before I head out?" she asked.

I was about to refuse when I glimpsed at the picture on my screen. A second opinion on the woman seemed like a smart move.

"Could you... take a look at this?" I asked Katya, pointing at my computer. She nodded and walked to me, with her usual small but fast steps. She came around my desk and looked at the picture for a moment, her eyes squinting at the screen.

"She is pretty," she said with a nod. "Is she your girlfriend?" The idea revolted me, as well as some other feelings I couldn't quite place. Why on earth would she draw that conclusion?

"No, she's a new employee," I explained.

"Ooh, I see. And you like her?"

I shook my head. It wasn't like that. It wasn't a question of liking or not liking at this point. It was about understanding what was happening here. "She intrigues me," I told Katya, perplexed.

"I can understand that. She has a lovely smile."

"She does, doesn't she?" I wondered, leaning back on my chair, my eyes still on the picture.

"And pretty eyes. Her hair is a mess, though. She needs a hair straightener," Katya pointed out. I nodded mindlessly even though I disagreed. I wasn't going to tell the woman that I actually liked the hair. It gave Andrea something natural and unique.

"Thank you, Katya. You can go now. Count the same hours as usual. You shouldn't lose your pay because I came home early," I told her, closing the browser's window. She nodded and left the office, making sure she closed the door behind her.

I remained like this for a moment, staring at the empty screen, trying to sort out my thoughts. This was why I didn't like the unexpected. This was the reason I stuck to what I had, to my quiet life, to my relationships, to people I knew. I didn't like being confused, and all this was too much.

I couldn't say for how long I remained like this, but I only came out of it when my phone vibrated on my desk. I took it and unlocked it, to see that it was Celeste's answer.

"Sorry, I can't tonight," she'd sent.

Fuck.

"When?" I replied instantly.

The answer didn't come right away, and I rolled my eyes. I knew exactly what she was doing. It had started like this before. She played hard to get, then would she'd met someone, and would insist that us becoming official was the only way she would stay. It hadn't worked the first time around, and it sure as hell wouldn't work this time either.

I threw my phone back on my desk, letting out a frustrated sigh. There went my easy solution to get the woman off my mind.

Deciding that I needed a drink, I got up, grabbing my phone, and headed to the kitchen. I poured myself a generous glass of Scottish whiskey and went to sit on the sofa in the living room. I turned on the TV and switched channels until I came upon something that seemed watchable. It was a rerun of some old SciFi show.

I sipped on my beverage, distractedly looking at the flat screen. If Celeste was going to become an issue again, it meant I had to find someone else. There truly wasn't anyone I could see myself contacting. I avoided my past encounters because just like Celeste, most of them had posed a problem at some point.

Shit, I had to find someone new, didn't I?

Just the thought of that excruciating procedure exhausted me. It wasn't particularly hard to find willing women, but I dreaded the process. Kevin was done introducing me to his wife's friends, because I wasn't looking for the same thing as them. I didn't trust dating apps and I hadn't been socially involved lately. I could go to a bar, to find a stranger who was just there for a one night adventure, but it meant going out and seeing people.

I leaned my head back, staring at the dropped ceiling. In all truth, there was one person I could see myself spending the night with, but she was the reason I had to blow off some steam in the first place.

I glanced down at my crotch, feeling the unmistakable swelling of my cock.

Damn it. I had a problem...

*****

Okay, you guys know I don't normally do this. I don't do face claims, I don't post images to help picturing out things... But this one was just absolutely perfect, so I couldn't not post it. So, there you go. This is the pic Kate posted for Andy's birthday: