“So you’re actually working with him now?” says Hailey.

It’s early morning and we’re both up unusually early.

Our housemates finally got back from their multi day party, and they made a hell of a racket this morning at 6AM when they were getting home. There’s about six of them, and I think some of them must share a room, because I’m pretty sure there aren’t even that many bedrooms in our house. It’s strange not even knowing who most of them are. I swear that I’d never seen two of them before at all, but Hailey assured me they’re our roommates. They were wearing work clothes, all scuffed up and half taken off. There were three guys and one girl, and I’m pretty sure they all coupled up and are still having sex now… with some additional ‘friends’ they brought home.

“Ugh,” says Hailey. “I can still hear them fucking.”

Sure enough, there’s the distinctive sound of mattress springs squealing and screeching, as well as a pounding on the floor above us.

“They’re really going at it, eh?” I say, feeling uncomfortable for obvious reasons.

Hailey shrugs. “Sounds pretty normal. Probably just missionary position.”

I’m pretty sure I blush. I mean, it’s not like I don’t know about different positions. I can name a lot of them, and I’ve seen the drawings, and even the porn, when I was curious. I mean, who hasn’t? But I have no idea what each position feels like, and I don’t know why someone would prefer one position over the other.

“How can you tell?”

“Don’t worry,” says Hailey, ignoring me. “You’ll get laid soon enough, as soon as you’re ready for it. As you saw the other night, the guys are just dying for you.”

I blush again as a seriously loud series of grunts erupts from the floor above us.

“I can’t believe we can hear that even down here,” says Hailey, cringing.

“People like sex,” I say. “Why don’t we like hearing it?”

“I guess because it’s sex we’re not having,” says Hailey, shrugging.

Sometimes, she’s not so much of a morning person.

“So tell me about working with him,” she says. “Was it weird, after the other night?”

I nod. “I was pretty uncomfortable at first,” I say. “But soon it just became about the programming…”

“You and those computers.”

I laugh. “It’s fun,” I say. “I don’t know why people say only guys can do it.”

Hailey shrugs. “It’s just run of the mill sexism.”

“I guess. Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t sleep with him. He’s really kind of an asshole.”

“He is called the douchebag billionaire,” says Hailey. “I imagine he’s worked hard to earn such an esteemed nickname.”

“Yeah,” I say. “He’s just all about money. I mean… he’s really authoritative. I can just tell he knows what he wants and he gets it. I pissed him off by not sleeping with him… And now, someone’s threatening his position as this famous genius coder, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to exert his will…”

“What was that?” says Hailey.

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Sounded like the doorbell. Let me go check.”

“I didn’t even know we had a doorbell.”

“That’s because you’re always listening to your headphones.”

Hailey gets up and leaves my room. I can hear her treading softly in her socks as she moves through the rest of the house.

Up above, and around me, I can still hear the roommates having sex.

I blush, even though I’m by myself, and I find that my thoughts drift back to Ryan Hudson, and that night that we “spent together,” even though we didn’t actually have sex. How would I feel now if I had gone through with it? Would I resent it, regret it, or would it have been the best decision I’d ever made? People talk about just getting it over with and moving on, but I don’t think that kind of thing is even possible with Ryan Hudson. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy that you can just move on from.

Hailey comes back into the room, holding the largest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen.

“They’re roses,” she says, giving me a coy smile.

“Roses?” I say. “Who are they for?”

“Guess.”

I shrug. “No idea.”

“They’re for you. And guess who they’re from?”

“Ryan Hudson?”

“Yup!” she says, handing me the flowers. I have to stand up to take them, and they’re so big it’s actually hard to hold them without them overtaking my face and pushing into my hair.

“Wow,” says Hailey. “You must have made quite the impression, even without sleeping with him. What did you guys talk about yesterday at the office?”

“Nothing,” I say, confused. “I don’t understand. He basically ignored me yesterday. Why would he send me roses?”

“He’s thinking about you,” says Hailey, suppressing a giggle. “He wants you, that’s pretty clear. Guys like that don’t send roses usually. They just take what they want.”

“You think he really wants me?” I say.

“Of course.”

I put the roses down awkwardly on their side on the floor, since there’s nowhere else to put them. I try not to damage them, but I think one on the bottom is already a little mushed.

“They do smell nice,” I say, leaning down and inhaling deeply.

Hailey slaps my ass lightly. “Look at that ass,” she says, giggling. “It got you your own billionaire.”

I sit back up, so that my ass isn’t sticking out as it was.

“My own douchebag billionaire,” I say. “And I’m not so sure…”

“Come on,” says Hailey. “You two working together in the office… late nights… everyone else has gone home for the night… and he sent you roses… something’s bound to happen…”

“I’m not sure I want anything to happen,” I say.

“Let’s see how you feel about that in a week,” says Hailey, giving me a knowing smile and a wink.

There’s an extra loud groan from above, and finally the bed springs stop making their horrible noise.

“Looks like someone’s finally finished,” says Hailey.

“I’ve got to get to work,” I say, checking the time.

“Have fun,” says Hailey, trying to slap my ass again as a joke, but I pull away from her.

Half an hour later, I’m at the office, sitting in my cubicle next to Jerry, chatting with him about the algorithm.

“Yeah,” I say. “It’s pretty crazy. I’ve never worked on a project like this.”

“Well, it’s a big opportunity,” says Jerry. “I just don’t know if we’re going to be able to come up with something. This sort of thing is usually done by a huge team of programmers with lots of experience. Me, I’ve been at this a long time, but I’m pretty rusty.”

“And I’m new,” I say. “But aren’t some of the best programs written by little teams of hackers?”

Jerry shrugs. “When you’re young, it’s different.”

Well, I think to myself, I’m pretty young.

And I’d be surprised if Ryan doesn’t still have it in him. There’s just something about his presence that simply… dominates and commands. If he wants to make a better algorithm, he’s just going to fucking do it.

“He’s not here yet?” I say.

Jerry shakes his head.

“I guess I should be reading this employee manual,” I say. “I still haven’t finished it yet.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” says Jerry. “You know, everyone in the office has been asking me about what’s going on. They’re really surprised to see Ryan here.”

“I can imagine,” I say. “After years of not really doing any work… but why doesn’t Ryan get everyone to work on it?”

“Most of the people here aren’t programmers,” says Jerry. “They’re basically just salesmen who know a little about programming, just enough to sell the product.”

I swear that I feel his presence before I see him.

It’s just a solid, commanding presence. He’s here to get what he wants. He’s here to do what he needs to do.

But does he want a better algorithm, or does he want me?

I’m so confused.

I see him, his suit practically gleaming even in the dull fluorescent lighting. His stubble is still perfect, as it perpetually is. His eyes seem to drill right into me. He focuses in on me and doesn’t look at anything else in the office as he walks right towards me.

There’s an arrogant grin on his face.

“You like the flowers?” he growls.

“Flowers?” says Jerry.

Ryan completely ignores him.

I don’t say anything for a moment out of embarrassment. After all, Jerry’s right here.

“Well?” growls Ryan, seeming to look straight through me.

My breathing gets tighter, faster. I feel something happening in my body…

“Yeah,” I say. “They’re nice.”

Ryan continues to look at me for what feels like an eternity. Jerry’s silent. He knows who the boss is.

“Well,” says Ryan. “Let’s get to work. We’ve got a special member of the team for today.”

“Who?” I say.

“Johnny Robbins.”

“Like the Johnny Robbins, the guy who hacked the…?”

“I’m surprised you know about him,” says Ryan, cutting me off.

“Of course,” I say. “He’s famous…”

“Only in certain circles.”

“Well, I am interested in computers…”

Ryan makes a sound that’s something between a grunt and a “hmmph,” a sound that’s unreadable. Like always with him, I feel like I don’t know what he’s thinking.

But one thing is crystal clear now, despite all the other doubts—and that’s that he wants me. He wants me. It’s clear in the way he looks at me, the way that he moves, and of course, the flowers.