I was locking up my office when I saw Noah and his personal assistant, Jennifer, walking out as well. It took me a minute to register they were both looking at me at the end of the hallway. Quickly I closed my mouth and blinked.
Noah's smirk told me I had been caught checking out my boss. I looked down at the floor while I walked towards them. He put his hand on Jennifer's shoulder and a surge of jealousy went through me. But as I caught up with them he was sending her off.
"You know, Jennifer, we can continue this tomorrow." He patted her shoulder.
"Yes, it can definitely wait. I need to run out of here anyways." She smiled at me and winked.
We stood there until Jennifer was out of earshot, and when I finally did look up, his eyes were checking me out.
"Now we are even."
"I'm sorry, what?" I couldn't read his face. If I were a model I'd think he was looking at me like I was his next meal. I laughed nervously.
"I did
The office morning yoga class was full and I was late because of my silly paranoia. I hit the snooze button for the first time in years.I went to close the door when I heard someone saying 'pst' to me."Hey, over here. Psssst, hey, Holly." Adam was whisper yelling and pointing at the empty mat next to him. "Psssst!"I rolled my eyes at him and put my water bottle down beside the mat. "Shush!" Somesone beat me to telling him."You shush!" Adam contniued to whisper yell as people were now starting to glare at him with distain.He was still getting looks that could kill while everyone dispersed. "What's their problem?""You, dumbass." I bumped his shoulder and found myself locking in on those gorgeous dimples. He was smiling back at me."Well..." He trailed off.We had a moment. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the small act of kindness on Adam's part this morning but I felt drawn to him. His aura w
Noah showed up asking me for lunch but I politely declined lying to him about having the next stage of user experience, aka UX, testing.Honestly, I had the programmers start writing code and switching up the algorithm as I've gone along. It's simple A/B testing and I didn't want to get too into the weeds of the whole thing with him. Especially while I'm daydreaming about his brother.After my fourth cup of coffee, Jennifer said I needed to give the Keriug and my body a break for the rest of the day. She's always been super nice to me and even brought in candy at 3PM when my brain felt like mush. The sugar high was definitely needed to push me to 5PM but there was no way I was staying here any later."Holly?" I heard Jennifer say as she knocked on the door."Come on in, Jennifer. I have to thank you for your help today." I mused while she sat with her sweet smile."Aww, how kind of you to say that. Thank you. It was nothing really."
I beat Adam to yoga class today. I had gotten my favorite spot in the back corner and might have made some extra room for someone who had done the same for me yesterday.Luckily today's class wasn't as jam packed so he could pick any number of spots."This for me?" I pretended to be fiddling on my phone when Adam walked up to the extra mat beside me."No, it's for my invisible friend, Jerry. He's really into yoga." I tried to be sarcastic but it came out as more of a joke."So Jerry and I are shaing mats now. Cool, cool." He sat down and started stretching. Adam didn't move the mat to make more room between us, even though he could have. And seeing as we kept touching and hitting one another in certain poses, he honestly should have moved.Class ended and Adam was kind enough to clean off our mats and bolsters so I could beat the rest of the women to the good showers. He said it was the least he could do for making Jerry put up with his
My mom and sister drive me crazy but I need to connect with them before the holidays, which I know will be upon me way to quickly. Since I was going home for Christmas I asked Kate to visit me out here in Colorado Springs. I'd pay for the flight, I just needed some sort of connection with home.Hell, at this point I'd invite my mother to visit. I know her schedule is too packed to come visit one of her two daughters. Sometimes I wonder how I'm related to these women. I related mostly to my father. And it's this times like these that I miss him the most. Even though I'm sick of men at the moment.I bought Kate round-trip tickets from Newark Airport to Colorado for this upcoming weekend. I would officially only have two weeks left until my company vacation with the Talon brothers. She had to come see my house and meet Jennifer and Jill before the holidays. If not she might not ever see the place I've lived for the past six years."Hey Kate! Look at you
Thanks to Adam, the development team was able to put the block feature into the app by the end of the day.Jennifer texted that Adam was like a hawk on Noah today, not allowing him to go off on his own and checking all of his correspondance. Usually it was the other way around.Adam took it upon himself to send out a company wide memo about sexual harrassment. It was almost laughable isn't wasn't actually kind of sweet. The Adam I met 5 years ago would have gagged at the thought of writing this memo and now he was doing it on his own.When I brought my take-out into my house that night, it was the first time I didn't feel scared. Who knew Adam would make me feel safe? Noah is just so intense. Part of me was still turned on by it but it I couldn't deny how he intimidated me.Thanks to Adam's hard work (wow, that's something I never thought I'd think or say), I felt okay to log into the app and monitor some group chat conversation
It was finally Friday and although Kate wasn't coming to visit, the weekend was here. I'd successfully avoided Noah and blocked PrinceCharming.Jennifer had taken the day off. Noah had taken out his anger on her all day, every day this week. On top of that, she went the extra mile to make sure I didn't have a run in with him. She was quickly becoming my favorite person. Adam was on top of Noah like white on rice but he had to take bathroom breaks, which is when Noah made his move. I was looking down at my phone that had just buzzed with a text from Adam: 'BRB. Avoid my brother' "Who are you chatting with?" My head snapped up, knowing that voice. It was a bit raspier then normal."Hi Noah, I didn't hear you come in." I was living in fear of him and PrinceCharming all week, but unlike my online companion, Noah hadn't actually said anything to me that would warrant me avoiding him. Or feeling the shiver down my spine. "
Since my weekend plans with Kate were canceled, I decided to work. My entire world has become about this app that isn't even being used and marketed to the public yet! That was my goal: UX text the shit out of this app in beta testing so it would be flawless when it went into production. I needed more screen shots of chats. Even though the screen names would be blocked out, I felt exposed putting all of my private chats with LimberJack or PrinceCharming (gag me! no, don't. He might enjoy that) so I decided to branch out. I went into group chats that were clearly not made for me but had to be represented nonetheless. Our current list group chats were: Beta Testers (the one I'm usually in and monitoring) LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Queer, and more community) Communication Skills Builder (which had the 'assist' button to create a sexy one liner or emoji) Lust to Love
Noah's POVSaturday morning means brunch with my dad and Adam. We were always surrounded by gorgeous women drinking their bloody Mary's and Mimosas. It used to be my favorite part of the week because I knew I'd get bring one of these women home with me, but I couldn't stop thinking about Holly.She forgave me as both her boss for being a dick this week and as PrinceCharming. I was all too happy to find the loophole to her blocking me, which under any other circumstances would have made me blow up at her and the entire dev and UX team. But last night I gained her forgiveness and I believe some of her trust back. Plus she had already copied me and Adam on a handful of emails last night to the appropriate team members chastising them for the mistake and she even laid out how to fix it and test it by Monday. So no, I wasn't mad. I was turned on by her ability to take responsibility and control of the issue and delegating out tasks. I had a hard on fo
5 years later... Adam and I were celebrating 5 years of our success as a couple. Although Adam says we've been together over a decade because the day we met is when our souls recognized each other as the others half. He's such a romantic. I was also celebrating 5 years as a badass COO boss woman in a male dominated field. Wired magazine was going to be printing an article about women in technology and asked me to be on the cover! We had a lot to catch up on over these last few years that came and went in the blink of an eye! We were both happy that everyone we invited had come to the party. Even Noah, although he stayed close to his dad all night and wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. Noah had been in therapy and even started an 'alternate lifestyles' club in the area, embracing what he truly took pleasure in. Not everyone was a fan of it, Kate and my mom especially, but I was proud of Noah. I respect that he knows what he wants inside the boardroom and bedroom. That he's wil
Holly's POVI curled up in bed and was about to go back to sleep after buying my ticket home for Kate's wedding. A one-way ticket. And the incessent knocking at my front door was back."I SWEAR TO GOD MINDY! IF THAT'S YOU!" I growled and opened the door."Lucky for me, I'm not Mindy." Adam stood in the doorway with flowers, food, and looking tired and not as put together as he usually does. Big dark bags under his eyes. His shirt wasn't stylish or clean. I just started at him. "Can I come in?""Oh. Yeah. Uh. Sure." I opened my door and put my arm out inviting him inside."It's pretty clean in here.""Had a little help.""I heard. Mindy is a bit of a gossip. She's got a big mouth.""Matches her large breasts. Don't you think?" Why was he here, talking about Mindy, of all things.He caughed and set the food down. "I thought you wouldn't mind Chinese again. Is that alright?"I nodded.
Adam's POVI had no idea what I did to upset Holly. She knew she was it for me. Didn't she? Why wasn't she answering my phone calls or texts. I wanted to drive over to see her but Dan told me I couldn't do that without admitting fault. So legally I was stuck to stalking her social media.Holly hadn't updated her Instagram or FaceBook. She wasn't answering her phone. I didn't attempt to slide into her private messages on the app."Come in!" There was a knock at my door. I usually don't close my door but I've been dealing with so much since I had to let go of Noah. He's now at a "resort" for anger management. Or at least that what we are telling the press. Jennifer has stepped into Noah's role seemlessly though. The board is looking to appoint a new COO soon but I think she should stay on, not just as the interim person."Hey, Adam." I knew that voice. "Can I talk to you? For a moment?""Yeah, come on in Mindy. Have a sea
I got an Uber and went back to my house. Drank and watched Housewives. I drank like I was a housewife. I wasn't. I wouldn't be a wife anytime soon. So how could I be a house wife?I turned the TV off and checked my phone.92 MISSED CALLS99 NEW MESSAGES52 NEW VOICEMAILSI went in and deleted all of them. Didn't even look at them. They were all from the same three people and I didn't have time for people who treated me like crap.Noah reached out a few times but never left a message or text.Jennifer left multiple voicemails and texts but they were all in defense of Noah and Adam's behavior. She was a cheater herself. A liar. So I deleted the rest without a second glance at them.Adam had tried so many times, I finally got the courage to block him. Maybe I should block Jennifer too. And Noah.Just cut them all out of my life. For good. There was a missed call from Kate so I rang her back.
I watched in horror as Noah scrolled through the multiple personal messages that Adam had with other, I could only assume, female beta users."Jack? Using your middle name was a bit too easy to have the females in the company flock to you." Noah smirked. "And anyone that knows you, knows you love yoga and the great outdoors. LimberJack was a little too transparent, brother."It hadn't been to me. But I wasn't like many people in this company, male or female, that were hoping to catch the eye of a Talon brother. If I had been obsessed with him, I'd probably have known his middle name and put two and two together but I didn't. I wasn't that girl. I was lonely girl.Noah clicked on a chat with Mindy32 who was obviously the Mindy that had was so obsessed with him. I bet she's 32 years old or her birthday is March 2nd. Usually the numbers we choose mean something to us.Chats that came up to the weekend we had Chinese food and he slept over in my bed cam
I woke up with a horrible hangover. My alarm was going off and I realized it was only Tuesday. And I needed to get my butt moving or I was going to be late for work.***Adam was sitting at my desk with his feet up. "How is my little drunky drunk?" He laughed and got up to hug me. "Still wearing your sunglasses, I see. I take it you don't remember talking to me last night?""Nope." I slid my sunglasses off and accepted a hug from Adam. He was warm and cuddly. I could have had these arms around me last night, but instead I woke up in my bed. Alone. With a headache and a very foggy recollection from last night. "What did we talk about?""Oh, nothing. Just how many children we are going to have. When you are moving in. I'm taking your name instead of keeping Talon, which makes perfect sense for the company.""Please tell me you are lying." I could feel my face turn pale."Holly. Come on now. We talked about when we were going to do it. And I sa
I sat in my office reviewing the two job opportunities. Even though one was a demotion, my salary didn't change. Could I work with Dev after this morning? Could I work for Noah after every thing we've been through? I texted Jennifer: Hey, want to go out for drinks? Bring Jill! She texted me back immediately: Jill says we are in. WOOT! WOOT! Is Adam coming? I texted her: No. This would be a girls only happy hour. She texted me back where and when to meet. The usual spot at 6PM. Good, now I had someone to discuss this whole thing with and wouldn't feel so alone. I don't feel like I can discuss this with Adam honestly. And it wouldn't be nice to put him in the middle of this decision. There was a knock at the door. Looking up, it was Noah. "Holly." He nodded. "Can we talk?" I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "Of course. Come on in." He shut the door behind him, which made my skin p
To my surprise, Talon Tech wasn't a far drive from the resort Adam had built for us. I was awake and ready to take on the world of corporate America again. Had it only been two weeks since I was last here? Adam dropped me off at my office and reminded me of our IT operations team meeting in a few minutes. This was basically the team giving me a 'quick glimpse' into what has changed, what needs to change, and any issues we can stop before they become issues. I felt like I was being coddled. And in a way I was, but a lot can happen in two weeks. That's three whole weekends without work. Optics are not looking good right now for me. I walked into the conference room and the room of twenty plus people went silent. I hated having all eyes on me and now all eyes were on me and they were obviously just talking about me. "Good morning, everyone! I am so happy to be back from all that craziness and back to this craziness." I paused, no one laughed.&n
Adam lifted me up a bit and scooted me further onto the bed. The bed creaked a bit and the sheets smelled like they were brand new.I didn't want to slow down but Adam pulled away making me feel cold without his lips on mine."You miss me that much already, do you? I'm just taking off my shirt, Holly." He winked at me, "I think you should too."Red, hot, excited blush crawled up my neck and face. Damn Irish roots, I'm always blotchy and red. I took the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. Adam tugged my shirt off and threw it somewhere."This bra is next. Why did you wear such dull clothing today?"I bit his shoulder as he said that, trying to unhook my bra."Because I didn't want to taunt your brother. You know, my ex fiance?""Oh shit." He sat up looking down at me. "I'm going to hate myself for this.""For what?" Adam was starting to scare me."For telling you that Noah is, or was, here.