Page 12 of Mr. February

Gloria fluffed her hair in the mirror and turned to face Jenny again.

“Use the conference as a reset. Other than Wade—who you’ve already said you’re not going to go after

though I think you should—nobody there knows you. You won’t see them again.”

The two women walked towards the door, and Jenny’s heart pounded.

“You’ll basically be the guest star of the geek conference,” Gloria promised her, “shiny and beautiful and never seen again. It’s the perfect opportunity to try to spread your wings a little bit. Fly my little butterfly; fly!”

Chapter 4: They Should Get a Room

WADE

A pale-faced Jenny walked with Elizabeth to the latter’s office. Holy shit. His mind spun with all the implications of Jenny going on the trip with him. He could use the four-hour drive to get to know her better. Maybe he would take Kyle’s advice and ask her out when they got back.

While they were on the trip, though, he’d keep it friendly. No pressure. He wouldn’t want her to feel obligated, or worse, view him as a conference fling. Now that she was single again, he was ready to make his interest known.

“Lucky bastard,” Jeff said as he barreled past Wade on his way out the door.

“What are you talking about?” Kyle asked, saving Wade from asking.

“You know. The nerd chicks at these conferences are usually desperate,” Jeff sneered at them both. “It’s a sausage fest, butthe few women there are ready to ride. Wade’s not much to look at, but he can pull there.”

“Thanks?” Wade answered cautiously.

Jeff was known for his crude humor when the boss wasn’t around. Wade expected worse than a back-handed compliment.

“And if that doesn’t work,” Jeff added, “he’s going to a hotel with that chick from finance. Bow chick-a bow wow. She’s a little fat for my tastes, but I’d still hit it. She’s got great tits.”

“Knock it off, dude,” Kyle warned him.

Wade reminded himself that killing was bad.

“It’s aworktrip, asshole,” Wade seethed. “I’ll be busy attending sessions and learning things. You know, working? Some of us know how to be professional with our colleagues. Besides, I thought you and Sarah were dating.”

“Yeah, but that’s the beauty of being out of town. Nobody needs to know. Besides,” Jeff’s curled his lip in distaste, “she’s not my colleague. She’s just some bitch with a nice rack who happens to work in the same building we do.”

“That’s not—” Wade began, but Jeff warmed to his topic.

“However, there are some benefits to her private office. She doesn’t have to share one like those of us who do the real work around here.” He humped the air in a perverted gesture. “Hell, she’s so pathetic, she’d probably thank me for clearing out the cobwebs.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Wade bit out. “You’re a disgusting pig.”

“Fuck you,” Jeff sneered. “You think just because you’re a team lead, and you’ve worked here longer, that you’re better than I am. As if being the King of the Nerds is all that great.”

“And he has a master’s degree,” Kyle added because he knew Jeff hated it.

“Iambetter than you,” Wade said, “but it’s not because I’m a team lead. I’m better than you because you’re a piece of shit, and I’m not.”

“Break it up, guys. Break it up,” Kenny said in an exasperated tone. “Jeff, quit starting shit. You know it’s not okay to talk about woman like that. You’re already skating on thin ice with Elizabeth.”

“It’s not my fault that client was a bitch and didn’t know how to take a joke.”

“Enough!” Kenny repeated with more bite in his tone. “Get back to work. We’ve got a deadline, and we’re all waiting on you to finish your bug fixes.”

Kenny drew Jeff away towards their part of the building. Wade gritted his teeth as he stomped off towards the office he shared with Kyle. Kyle shut and locked the door. Wade looked at him sharply because that was unusual.

Kyle shrugged. “I don’t want anybody else to walk in while you’re planning his murder.”

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