I’m in the office until the early morning hours, and finally I decide to head back and get some sleep.

The next morning, I wake up early, despite the lack of sleep. Things like that have never bothered me much. I keep myself hardened, after all, with my intense workouts. I’ll never let myself go soft… especially not for a woman.

I wake up thinking about her, her body, and the way she looked at me last night. What did she want me to do, talk to her about our feelings or something? What’s there to talk about? We haven’t even fucked yet. And it’s not like I talk a lot to the women I have fucked.

I like my solitude, my independence, the ability to do whatever the fuck I want, whenever I feel like.

But I have the feeling now that this independence I’ve cherished is being threatened… by this new algorithm.

I’ve been running the rough numbers in my head, and if this new algorithm can actually compete with mine, it’ll become enterprise standard in a few short months, essentially cutting off my income entirely. It’s not like I’ve lived cheaply, squirreling away the pennies for a rainy day. I’ve had my fun, and I’ve spent my money to have it.

Usually I can get women out of my head easily. Usually I just fuck them and leave them. Hey, that may not be the best way to go about it, but that’s what I do, and I’m not apologetic about it. I don’t give them any illusions that it’s going to become a long term thing, unless they’re really lucky and get on my contacts list for future hookups.

If a woman doesn’t want me, which is very, very rare, than I just move on to the next one. There are plenty more who are ready for me, and willing.

But with Lily… I don’t know, I just can’t get her out of my head. I should be thinking about the algorithm and possible business strategies, contacts, that sort of thing, but she keeps popping up in my mind over and over again, no matter what I try to do.

I’m just going to have to have her, I think to myself. That’s the only way to get her off my mind and move past her. I’m going to do whatever it takes to have her, no matter what. I’ll make her see that she needs me and wants me. I already know she does… The way her body responded was incredible. I just need to show her what sex can be like, show her the pleasure I can give her. She wants me, and I know it. I just have to convince her. That shouldn’t be too hard.

The phone rings. It’s Johnny Robbins, one of my old programming buddies. He’s a crack coder, but he was never that interested in business or enterprise applications. He just wants to have fun on his computer, cracking away at algorithms and obscure programming metrics. He’s also a bit of a hacker, cracking his way into just about everything. So far, he’s been lucky and skilled enough not to get caught… for the most part.

Well, that’s not totally true. He has one arrest on his record, when he broke into a government system carelessly, leaving enough tracks that they were able to find him. Of course, now he’s much more careful.

“Yeah,” I say, answering the phone.

“Ryan,” says Johnny, speaking in his own peculiar fast way of talking. He always sounds like he’s from New Jersey, even though he claims he’s never been there. “I’ve got something for you.”

“Yeah? What is it, Johnny?”

“I found some stuff on this guy, Simmons.”

“Can you tell me over the phone?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why don’t you meet me at the office, then. We can talk about it there freely.”

“The office? Since when do you go to the office, man?”

“Since I heard about this Simmons guy,” I say. “I’m getting back into the game, in a big way.”

“Until you figure out what to do about your algorithm, you mean,” he says. “You’re just concerned about your money.”

“I’m interested in the code, too, wise ass,” I say. “Just like you are.”

“You sure you can still hack after spending so much time sipping fine wines and sampling the local cuisines, and by that, I mean the women…?”

“Just meet me at the office,” I say. “You’ll see I’m still better than you are.”

He laughs and hangs up.

I’m ready to head into the office.

My mind wanders back to Lily.

I kept looking at her yesterday, drinking in her body, and I can still picture her beautiful curves perfectly, the way her ass slopes down to her round, muscular thighs, the way her breasts slope, the way her neck…

I’m getting carried away here, and my cock is growing in my pants, pressing uncomfortably against the zipper.

I make a split second decision, and grab the phone and make an order with a very good florist that I’ve done some business with before. Although, honestly, it’s not like I’m in the habit of sending flowers to women.