“It’s okay, I’ve got it. You know, this is one of the oldest computers in the office. I think you should have one of the new ones since you’re doing so much programming and network projects.
“Why don’t you take the rest of today off? I’ll have our new vendor come set up the Lightning Razor computer for you in the morning. He swears by this new model and I was going to test it out, but since your computer is crap, I think it might be easier to just give it to you.”
Although I really didn’t want to have to deal with a new computer, the Lightning Razor was epic in the computer world and I was excited at the opportunity to mess around with it. If my computer wasn’t even going to turn on, then it was time for me to suck it up and get the new one. It would take a little bit of work to set it up, but once I had it running, the new computer would be ideal for my productivity.
“All right, I’ll talk with Robert and cut my day short today. What time should I meet with the vendor tomorrow?”
“I’ll have him come at eight,” he said as he pushed himself back into the standing position.
Tom leaned
against my desk with part of his stomach showing from under his polo shirt. It took all the self-control I had not to look straight at his bulging stomach as I tried to wrap up our conversation.
“Okay, I’ll be here,” I said. “Thanks so much for your help. Have a good rest of your day.”
“You know, I was just about to head out early today, too. Would you like to go to an afternoon movie or something?”
“I’m sorry, Tom, I’m still not really dating right now. You know it’s just so hard to move on after losing the love of my life,” I said dramatically.
“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry. Okay. Um, yeah, I’ll touch base tomorrow after the technician leaves. Have a good day,” he said as he scurried away.
“You said you’d go out with the next guy who asked,” Mattie laughed from the other cubicle.
“Oh no, that one doesn’t count,” I said. “I’d rather date the guy from the website.”
“Do me a favor and keep your profile visible for a little bit. It might be fun to at least talk to some decent guys…assuming there are decent guys on our website. Sometimes I wonder.”
“Fine, I’ll make it public tonight. I’m going to head out for the day. I’m trying to get a long run in for my marathon training; any chance you want to join me?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.
“Nope. Have fun with that torture.”
“See you tomorrow, and maybe you can actually offer a little help next time Tom gets his sweaty butt into my cubicle. I thought we were friends.”
“I know, but it was so fun to watch you squirm.”
“I hate you and love you all at the same time.”
“I know. I love you, too,” Mattie said as she waved goodbye and I gathered my things for the day.
My endorphins were still racing through my system after flirting with Brandon. It was the perfect time to go for a long run and zone out a little. I wasn’t all that great at running, but it was the best stress reliever around.
Chapter Four
Brandon
“If you watch this trend, you’ll be able to catch the upsell just before it starts. Then you can’t take a break, you can’t walk away from your computer: you have to watch diligently for the downward movement to start so you can sell.”
“Josh, you make it sound so urgent. How much an I really going to lose if I go to the bathroom during a decline?” I laughed.
Josh took his job of stock trading very seriously. Even when I joked with him, his face stayed solid and he didn’t react to my attempts at humor. I appreciated his serious nature around teaching me his investment techniques, but even a good businessman had to take a leak every now and then.
Learning about stocks seemed a natural next step for me. I hoped after taking a break from business that I might step into running something new down the line. It was sad that I didn’t understand the stock market more than I did, especially considering I’d only been able to sell my company after going public and getting top dollar on the market.
“If you are asking me a serious question about when to take a break, I’d say to make sure you have an iPad with the tracking information on it so you can carry it around while you’re watching for the bubble to break.”
“Then I’m allowed to pee?”
“Yes, then you can pee. But you can seriously lose millions of dollars if you mess this up, Brandon. I’ve seen a stock drop up to five dollars within minutes. If you have a million shares of stock, you just lost a hell of a lot of money, even for you.”