Sounds Like Obsession (Sounds Like 1)

“Ok. Maybe I should ask him.”

“Yes, do it,” she urged. “He won’t care. So what if he tells you about Dina’s cold symptoms.”

My eyes darted to his. “Please don’t tell me Dina has a cold.”

Becca laughed. “I’m kidding. I have no idea. I stay away from him.”

“Great,” I groaned. I rose from my chair, flattening the creases in my skirt. “This better be worth it.”

“Good luck. I’ll check on you before I leave.”

“Sounds good.”

I watched as Becca returned to her standing work station. DataCorp considered itself innovative and a creative workspace. Some of us had moving desks on treadmills. Some people hung out at the juice bar. There was foosball, ping pong, and classic pinball games in the open area outside of the cubes. I didn’t know if it made me more productive.

I took a heavy breath. I knew it had to be nothing. Absolutely nothing, but there was no rationale for the way my gut kicked in when Becca told me AJ wasn’t at soccer practice last week. It didn’t make sense. Why would he lie?

I looked at my screen and then up at Billy whacking the ball with his paddle. He was the super nerd on this floor. And yes, his obsession with Dina was a lot to handle, but the guy knew a hell of a lot about programming.

I walked to the common area. “Hey, Billy.”

His eyes jerked to me and he missed the ball. “Shit,” he muttered.

“Sorry about that.”

“What’s up, Sydney?”

“I have a couple questions about a virus I’m trying to eradicate. It’s for one of my big clients, Clarkson Labs.”

He placed the paddle on the table and nodded to his partner. “I’ll be back, bro.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry about your game.” I smiled. “If you could give me some pointers I can handle it. If I keep going at this rate, I know I’ll be here all night.”

“No problem.” He followed me into my cube. “Let’s take a look.”

“See? I can’t get past this wall.” I showed him where I was stuck.

He leaned over my desk. His shaggy hair stuck out around his glasses. He squinted. “Hmm. You skipped a step.” He tapped in a couple of markers. “Voila!”

“Oh my God. What was I thinking?” I stared in disbelief. “I knew that.”

He laughed. “Happens to all of us.”

“Thanks, Billy.” I hesitated. I either had to play this to the end or bail now. I’d already used my damsel card to get him back here.

“Sure thing.”

“Umm, do you think I could ask you something else?”

“Yeah. What do you have?”

I bit my lip. “I know how you love to do things for your girlfriend.”

He bobbed his head. “Dina is the best.”

“I know she is. And when you have to plan something special for her, without her finding out, but you need to look at her work schedule, how do you do something like that?”

He scratched the back of his head. “Dina’s schedule is pretty set. She’s basically eight to five at the library.”