Nerds ((closed))

[ArcticAvenue]

Brunch.

Brunch is a thing now.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but this is what Brunch has become.

Denise groaned, “Ohhh, see that girl by the door? Who would wear those shoes with that top..”

Saline shook her head, “I would die for that top, and she wears heels.”

“And that belt,” Denise replied. “The whole outfit is a disaster.”

Sandra waved a posh hand and moaned out agreement, “dreadful, absolutely dreadful for that skin tone.”

“See that?” Todd chipped in leaning out of the dress talk, “Dez is still talking to the Browns. They may just get him.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “He should wait until someone gets injured and get the contract he wants from someone desperate.”

“I still want that top,” Saline slipped in.

Todd said,, “Dez is a dumbass. You know the only reason why he hasn’t signed is because he thinks he’s worth more money than people want to pay.”

Brunch.

White noise of nonsense.

Things so far from interesting that they can’t even decide what side of a meal to be on. Can’t be breakfast, can’t be lunch. So they talk about the things that are meaningless in between. Things that are important to them. Never wondering what could be outside of this small restaurant with these little bites to eat and these mediocre drinks. It is an excuse to feel social. It is an excuse to feel superior. It is an excuse to drink before noon.

“I like her hair though,” Sandra said.

“I like the Rams though, now that they have a defence,” Kyle stated.

Denise shook her hair, “silver highlights aren’t good with blonde.”

“I like the Packers now that Rodgers is back,” Todd replied.

Kyle jumped, “if he can stay healthy.”

Sometimes when you wander through your life, you don’t see things as they really are. Maybe you try to fool yourself what you have is what you want. Maybe all those red flags along the way just seemed to match the colors of the world. Then comes a day when all you see is all that you been ignoring. You realize that what you are doing is nothing more than adding tomato juice with a shitload of vodka just to feel like you you aren’t escaping your problems on a Sunday morning.

“Can’t we all agree,” Todd said, “that you can say ‘if he stays healthy’ to everyone in the entire NFL?”

“No,” Sandra corrected. “Not her, the one with the black hair.”

“See,” Saline agreed, “some people can just pull off that emo look. Even her dark rims just make it all come together.”

Arthur looked up from the table to see who they are talking about.

It wasn’t Lila.

Arthur’s thoughts were somewhere between disappointed and relieved. Disappointed that it wasn’t her, that he couldn’t see her again. Relieved so that he didn’t have to deal with whatever fallout could happen when these old firends see him around her. Relieved that he could keep whatever this is from Denise until he could figure what to do. Disappointed that he hasn’t figured any of it out yet. Disappointed with his answer to Mrs. Merideth.

It had been just a few hours in real time, but every minute seemed to stretch for days. When in that small apartment he was happy, relaxed, peaceful. It was because of her, and only because of her. Something in him knew that, but it just became that much more amplified when he was stopped on the street by Mrs. Merideth. When all the flags about what was happening stopped blending with the colors of the world, and became red. She asked if they were truly just friends.

Arthur lost his mind a little and told Mrs. Meredith, “I have a girlfriend. Lila knows I have a girlfriend. I like this, whatever it is, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

She replied, “whatever this is … its something where someone will get hurt. It just better not be that sweet girl upstairs.”

Denise drained her second mimosa and stated, “well, not everyone can pull of the black hair nerdy look. Yet it seems anyone with a pair of glasses try.”

“My friend seems to pull it off, the nerdy look, she looks good like that,” Arthur chimed in.

A slight pause hung over his comment, until Denise asked, “a friend from work?”

“No,” Arthur replied a little too fast.

Another pause. Then someone else coming in the door with a dress worth commenting about. Another alert on football worth disagreeing with. Another round of drinks.

No more questions from Denise about this new friend. Arthur knew that would change. His one comment sent it into motion. Denise, sooner or later, will let him know that comment didn’t go unnoticed; and something will become of it. Mrs. Meredith was right that someone was going to get hurt, but if he was lucky - it would only be him that is.

 

[asetikish]

"Break!"

Lila blinked in front of her computer. The code in front of her had already taken shape. She was just looking for the bug she knew was there. She hadn't found it yet, but her eyes felt really dry. Rubbing them, she looked back at Mrs. Meredith.

The old woman has had the key to her apartment for four years. Ever since she saw Lila thinning when she didn't leave her apartment for days. Lila admitted that she didn't eat right and Mrs. Meredith demanded a key from her, taking it upon herself to take care of the younger woman. And Chloe. Apparently, the dog usually pestered her during work, signalling her hunger. It was only then that Lila remembered to eat. Or to feed Chloe and feel too lazy to make food for herself.

Lila walked over to the counter where a chopped-up roast chicken and sweet potato mashed waited for her. "This looks amazing! Let's tuck in." She smiled at the older woman and relished the taste of her lunch.

Mrs. Meredith took a few bites before sighing. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Lila asked in between mouthfuls.

"The boy you brought in. Arthur."

Lila lifted an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"He's dangerous. Don't get emotionally involved with him. I know I told you to get a man, but he's not the one you need to invest in. You'll only get hurt."

Lila paused. Did Mrs. Meredith know about her insane crush on Arthur? But even if she knew, Lila could do nothing about how she felt. Besides, it was totally one-sided. And she was focusing on Derek though she felt absolutely nothing for him.

"Don't worry about that, Mrs. Meredith. He has a girlfriend. Not like he would trade down for me. Besides, I know we're just friends. He was just here because of the rain. My place was close and we didn't have umbrellas so we headed here." Which wasn't exactly true. They had so many places to duck into before her place.

"Okay, first off, no one is trading down for you. And secondly, don't ever let him in here anymore. It's just too dangerous for a man and a woman to be alone together."

Lila rolled her eyes. "I'm an adult. I have control."

"It's because you're an adult that I'm very scared for you. Kids won't have sex. You have hormones that will make you want to have sex especially with a man as attractive as him."

"Mrs. Meredith! That's..." Lila blushed at her insinuation. "Anyway, he's not interested in me. I...stalked him. His girlfriend looks so beautiful. He won't be attracted to me with her around."

"You stalked him? He never introduced you to her?"

"Well," she went several shades deeper, "I'm just curious about him, you know. And besides, I'm sure he's just protecting me from those club-going types. Never turned out well for me."

Mrs. Meredith sighed. "Just remember my warning, girl."

Lila smiled and nodded, but she knew nothing was ever going to happen. Last night was just him being considerate of her breaking down. She got back to her work and with Mrs. Meredith leaving, there was no more talk of Arthur. But the older woman opened the floodgates. She remembered him and she looked at her phone after fixing the bug on the program. Allie messaged her and she relayed the message to Arthur: In a week, they need to get back to her and do the fitting. She sent the message and went back to her computer.

This time, stalking Arthur again.

She stared at the company he worked in. That was the company they were doing the new security program for. She was sure she wouldn't be at the presentation in three days. Part of her was bummed that she wouldn't even have a chance to see him, but part of her was relived. Her heart needed a rest from him.

The next day was a bomb for her, however. Her team lead--who did absolutely nothing on the project told her she needed to come to the presentation of the program. Sure, she did the bulk of the work, but she never did the presentations.

"I can't talk anyway," she tried to explain to Greg.

"You just answer questions. Make the company look good."

Make you look good, you mean. She sighed rolling her eyes. "Why not Jack?"

"You know everything. Jack knows only part of it. You're going and that's final. The board and the senior managers need to know and they will have questions. Remember. Make the company look good."

Lila grunted and tossed her phone. Maybe she wouldn't see Arthur. That would be sad, but her heart did need the rest...

She groaned and hugged Chloe. "I want to see him again, but I don't want to...Help me."

Chloe only barked happily and licked her face.

 

[ArcticAvenue]

“Morning Dent.”

Arthur spun in his chair away from the computer. “Oh, hi Chance,” he said to his Director.

“What’s do you have going on this afternoon?”

Arthur knew it was going to be a long night and a long week; but a boss doesn’t ask you a question like that without intention. “Nothing I can’t cancel.”

“Good,” Chance nodded. He dropped a thick proposal on his desk with a strange logo; one that seemed oddly familiar to him like he had seen it somewhere. “The board is meeting with an external cyber security provider. Their here mostly to talk tech; but we don’t like their numbers. I know it is short notice but see what you can do. Meeting starts after lunch.”

“Anything in particular you want me to look for?”

Chance was already walking away, but he still called back. “Start with labor. Those places always overpay the programmers.”

Arthur started with a quick flip of the paper. Most of it was tech in the report, some of it was sales and other propaganda; but there was a good section on financials that he could sink his teeth into.

Before he did, he looked up at the messy screens in front of him. Two key projects with deadlines by the end of the week. He didn’t have time for this; knew he didn’t have time for this … but this is how you get noticed.

He sent a text to Denise: Called into a meeting with the board. Got to stay late. XXX

A quick response came: Good luck, I know you will kill it, and we can celebrate late tonight. She’d been running hot and cold since brunch. No inbetween. Some moments she would be cold and angry. Some moments she was over the top with affection. The only thing consistent about it is was she seemed disingenuous; like she couldn’t be trusted - like she didn’t trust him. Her desire ‘celebrate’ actually made his stomach curl.

Heck, he even through about spending the night at the office if he’d need be. They don’t live to far from the office; but far enough .. especially if its late.

Heck, Lila’s apartment was closer. That would be a closer place to stay.

Not stay of course.

Before he even realized it, his phone was sending a text to Lila: Busy tonight?

“Dude,” Arthur muttered to himself. He put the phone on the other side of the desk, and opened the report.

 

[asetikish]

Lila arrived in the building in her shirt, buttoned up to the top, a sweater vest and a pencil skirt and flats. As a representative of her company, she was quickly ushered into a meeting room and found herself alone. She brought nothing with her, but her phone and a bunch of bills and cards in her pocket. Pulling out a chair from the large desk, she pushed it in a corner, just beside the wall at the front where she would be obscure and she didn't have to see everyone present until she turned to look, and sat fidgeting. She had no idea what to say...but then again, she knew everything she needed to know about the program. For crying out loud, she debugged the whole thing alone. She should know it to the last detail.

Her phone buzzed and she jumped surprising her out of her nervous musing. It was Arthur.

I don't know about tonight. Depends on what will happen with a company presentation. I suddenly got pulled in! She ended the text with a crying emoji and sent it to him.

Five minutes before the presentation, Lila started to panic. Greg was still nowhere to be found. She tried calling him, but he was unreachable. At two minutes, he finally came in looking so chill and presentable. Not for the first time, she wondered how people could be so relaxed doing these things.

"Ready?" Greg asked hooking his computer to the projector.

"No," Lila sighed. "Do you really even need me?"

He smiled at her. "Yes! We have to let them know we have excellent people who know what they're doing."

If you did any work on it, you would know what you're doing, you lazy ass! Lila complained in her head, but instead said, "Fine, but I'll only be answering questions."

Just as Greg finished pulling up the first slide to his presentation, people started filling the room. Lila didn't look. She didn't want to know how many people she would be talking to and convincing. She could always imagine three people, even though she knew such big decisions like company-wide adoptions needed more than three. Three would be manageable. Three would not make her so nervous.

Greg started the presentation. He was smooth. Flawless. Charming. That was why he led the team. Other than that, he was a crappy programmer that she could dance circles around. Worse, he almost always over-promised what their company could do, and she, maintaining her integrity, always tried to catch up to his promises. People laughed at her for that. Business was business. You get the client and catch up to your promise later. Complaints are a norm you should handle. That didn't sit well with her.

"How can we know that our AI tech can save you money by replacing your people? Lila? Could you take over? I just have to go to a bathroom break. UTI and all that from all that sitting around and coding. We programmers are just so unhealthy." He winked at the people in the room, giving them a bit of a laugh and he exited the room.

Lila's eyes widened as Greg left the room. Seriously? He would leave her in this room? Seriously? For the first time, she stood and turned to the crowd breathing deeply to calm herself. There were more than three! "Well, AI..." she paused seeing Arthur. She swallowed. Crap! Frogging frogger crap!

She tore her eyes away from him and looked at the floor. There was a question to be answered and she had to answer it, her knuckles turning white as she explained how her program worked to learn about threats and threat detection without human aid. She stammered and stuttered, but she went through it. When she thought the questioning was over, another one popped up, and another. She felt like the questioning also questioned her ability. Her tech. Her AI. The more they asked the more forward she became, being protective of her baby. She started looking at the person who asked the question. Started to block misconceptions and change assumptions. She didn't even realize Greg was already in the room when the questions went to other things and he started answering.

There weren't a lot of questions for him. Mostly, it was about the price and the customer service quality later, so she didn't wait long until the meeting was over and she slumped back in her seat. It was as if she spent her last strength standing up to their questions. Her knees felt like jelly and she felt her cold sweat finally warming up as people filed out of the room.

"Looks like I got it," Greg grinned at her. "Work on the upgrades and patches soon, okay? I'm going to celebrate with a good scotch tonight!"

Lila grunted in response to him as he left. She laid her forehead on her hands feeling as if she had run a gauntlet, trying to get her strength back.

 

[ArcticAvenue]

Arthur had kept silent throughout the presentation. It really wasn’t his place to speak to begin with. It was the Board’s meeting. He was there just to give supporting data; not to participate. If they wanted his opinion on something they would ask it. Luckily they didn’t, not even Chance who asked him to be there. Arthur had done as requested, went over the proposal numbers and compared them to some data he mined on cybersecurity build models. Whomever this firm was, they were asking for a fair bit above average for programmer labor. Might not kill a project, but it would for a further set of negotiations.

It seemed as thought Lila didn’t see him at first. Probably for the same reasons he had to do a double take when he realized it was her. She wore an outfit that was so distant from that oversized Miskatonic University shirt from a few days before that she could have gone cosplay and still looked more normal than the sweater vest and pencil skirt. Then again, he wasn’t in some t-shirt and jeans either. His grey suit, white dress shirt, and blue-striped tie was camouflage in the sea of grey suits, white shirts, and blue ties. Seeing her was stunning, comfortable, reassuring.

Then again, if the board did ask his opinion, he would have to say something that could ruin everything for her.

When it was over, he walked out of the room with them. They all shook hands, padded shoulders, and found the next thing to be a ‘board’ over. Arthur had reams of work to deal with, set-back by all this time spent on this one project that they ultimately didn’t ask about. Then the question of what this meant for his career, who he would need to work with now, what the next steps would come. A meeting that Denise will want to know every detail about. All the questions that would have a hint of their future, and what this means for the both of them. Arthur had to get back to that, all of that, as soon as possible.

Yet, Arthur found himself at the door to the conference room.

Lila, with her head on her hands, was the Lila of old.

And everything that weighed on him was gone.

He leaned against the door jam, and interrupted her trip to her mind palace.

“Boy, Lila, you sure do clean up good.”

 

[asetikish]

Alone, Lila took a deep breath trying to compose herself as she sat alone in the room. The first thing on her mind was to leave, but another thought came into her head: Arthur was there! He wasn't supposed to be in the meeting. According to Greg, it was only supposed to be the directors at the meeting because the only reason they were presenting was that they had to convince the decision-makers themselves. And Arthur was definitely not among them. She knew. She checked.

Shaking her head, sat straight and just as she was about to stand, Arthur came in.

“Boy, Lila, you sure do clean up good.”

"Y-you're here!" She squeaked, and immediately regretted the strange response. Quickly, she tried to think of a cover up. "Um, this...well. I just have this one thing. I don't really talk to people so high up the food chain all the time. There's no need. I mean, I have to have something to wear for an interview. Um...yeah...oh! Um, thanks. For the compliment, I mean." She cleared her throat to stop herself from yammering.

"I guess I never got the chance to ask about where you work, so I was a bit surprised. You're really something being a big boss in a really big company. I promise, this was supposed to have been all Greg. I mean, he is the head of research and development at the company and well, I just, um..." Lila bit her lips noticing her mouth was running off again. She stood and grabbed her backpack.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have been talking to you sitting down. Um, did you get my message about our visit to Allie's this weekend so we can have have the costume fitting? I know the time is short, but the con will be in the week after that. Derek has also finished most of your bike. He's just trying to get the colors right. I think we'll see it on the weekend too...And um...I think Allie said something about changing costume. I don't know. We'll know when we get there, I think....But of course, it's office time. I better get out of your hair. I'm sure you're a very busy man and all."

Lila tried not to stare into his eyes as she looked at him, but at that last moment, her eyes caught his and she couldn't move. Rooted. Just looking up at him from where she stood

No, Stop it! Mrs. Meredith warned you. Be a good girl and leave the man be with his work.

But even as she told herself that, she still couldn't move as she stared from his eyes to his lips and back up to see her reflection in him. But the reflection wasn't clear. Just a shadow of herself. Exactly what she was to him. It took a herculean effort, but she finally managed to look away. Now all she had to do was walk. Lifting her feet was tough, but she managed to take the first few steps, which weren't getting easier at all.

 

[ArcticAvenue]

“I’m not a big boss or anything,” Arthur replied. “I only sat in the meeting today because my boss wanted me to run the numbers on all this. So don’t get any big ideas.”

He couldn’t stop smiling. She seemed to be chatty, spilling out an unending stream of yammering. He soaked in all the words, all of it, and just couldn’t take his eyes off of hers. She told him about the costume fitting, and the bike work. When she was finished, he didn’t acknowledge her. Instead he just said, “I stand corrected. I think I like you better in just a t-shirt. It’s way more you.”

As soon as the words got out of his mouth he thought, ’Careful dude. That was a flirt. That’s thin ice your walking on.’

When she looked away, he did soon after too. He tried to change the subject. “Yeah - costume fitting this weekend. I should be good, because Denise is visiting her parents the whole weekend. We can make a day of it again, if we need be . I even get a break from Sunday brunch for once. But just so I know, when you get the bike, do you drive it or do I. I just want to know if Manga has rules about dudes riding in the bitch seat.”

As he finished talking he noticed that in both their more subconscious movement, they were standing next to each to each other. As he noticed this his hand brushed against her, sending fire through his blood. It was so intence he felt the need to appologize. “Sorry,” he said.

’Thin fucking ice.’

 

[asetikish]

“I stand corrected. I think I like you better in just a t-shirt. It’s way more you.”

Lila couldn't get the words off her head. Was he checking her out? No. No. That was just probably an observation.Of course, she wasn't really built for corporate. He'd notice. She shook herself mentally and went back to his question.

"Oh. No rules about that. Don't worry. And I'll be the one riding the bitch seat anyway." She laughed feeling a little more relaxed with the banter. Besides, that bike was made just for you. Derek even made sure it was big enough for you. I'd look like one of those magazine girls who try so hard to fit themselves on a big bike when they don't. A less sexy version of that," she grinned at him.

She felt him touch her and she froze. It was a brief skin to skin contact but she found herself shivering and wanting to do more than just have a slight brush.

"Sorry."

Lila blinked at her a little hurt, but tried not to show it in her face. He apologized for touching her. Would he do that to his friends? Probably not. But why? Was touching her repulsive? He didn't have that reaction before. Why now? She opened her mouth to ask, maybe in a joking way about it, but she shut her mouth again scared for the answer that would come out of his mouth. Instead, she took a deep breath and smiled.

"See you this Saturday then. Oh and, if you have updates about our contract, it would be awesome if you could update me, so I can start work before they even start passing everything on me."

----

The weekday passed by so slowly, but as the weekend came up Lila's room was soon a mess of clothes, undecided for once about what to wear. Off to the side, Chloe yawned and put her head down obviously bored with her master's indecisiveness.

"Why is it so hard to pick what to wear? Why don't I have anything else to wear?" She rummaged her closet and sighed. Aside from shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, lengthy shorts and the occasional corporate attire, she had an array of cosplay clothing that were obviously not for a normal day out.

She looked at Chloe, frowning. "Why am I stressing out what to wear? We're just fitting a costume and hanging out, right?"

Chloe popped her head up and bent her head to one side as if asking.

Lila sighed. "You're right. I'm treating this like a date. I shouldn't. It's just friends hanging out, right? Right!"

She turned away from Chloe as her dog set her head back down. She took a deep breath and chose a black shirt that had different sided dice and the words "choose your weapon", and a pair of jeans that hugged her form.

“I stand corrected. I think I like you better in just a t-shirt. It’s way more you.”

Sh blushed remembering his words and shook her head. "Don't read into it, Lila. The guy's just being nice."

After fixing her closet, she dropped off Chloe to Mrs. Meredith and headed for Allie's place. She arrived earlier than their appointed time and Allie quickly shoved her child to her husband reminding him not to misplace the list for the groceries he was doing as he headed out.

"Okay, now that you're here, said you're going to be Sarah, right? You see I was so tempted to put you in that pink bikini outfit she had, but I know you will hurt me if I did. So...compromise!" She shoved her in the makeshift dressing screen she made.

"Frogger! Allie! Could you not just have chosen her most basic look?" Lila stepped out of the makeshift dressing room complete with a wig and the sword.

"Well, I thought you were going to ride on a bike and it's not easy to do it in a skirt, right Arthur?"

Lila started realizing Arthur was already in the room. "O-oh. Hi. Didn't see you there. When did you come in?" She tried not to show her insecurity about how little she was wearing in front of him. And while the clothes accentuated her curves revealing that she had a bit more of them than her normal clothes let on, she felt...like there was nothing sexy about her to deserve the clothing. The only outward showing of her insecurity was her arms wrapped around her.

"I was tempted to do denim for your shorts, but those spandex work just fine. Looks like denim, but more comfortable." Allie grinned looking closely at Arthur's expression. "What do you think?"