Page 8 of Mr. February

“I’m afraid to ask. What’s your plan?”

“You should hook up with a geek!”

“I don’t think so; the only geeks I know are here.” Jenny’s lack of excitement was palpable. “What if things go wrong? I don’t want to make it weird. Aren’t you the person whose mantra about workplace dating is ‘don’t shit where you eat’?”

“Yes, I know I said that, but that’s for me. Let’s face it. You’re far less volatile than I am. I bet you’re friends with most of your exes.”

“That’s true. Other than Chad, most of my breakups have been amicable even if we didn’t have good relationships. Even with Chad, he was the one who said horrible things, not me, and it hasn’t slowed him down from messaging me.”

“He messaged you again?”

“Last night. It was late, so I pretended I didn’t see it. I’ll figure something out to say tonight after work.”

“That’s why my plan is perfect. You need to be boning somebody else. If not to protect you from surrendering to his whiny booty calls, than to give him a reason to leave you alone. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t care if a girl says he’s uninterested, but he’ll pay attention if she’s got another guy already.”

“I don’t know.”

Jenny’s thoughts flew to Wade. She was still embarrassed he walked in during their conversation yesterday, but at least he didn’t hear the part about her and Chad. Even if he realized Gloria was talking about her, that was better than him knowing she’d never orgasmed with someone else.

“What are you thinking about?” Gloria asked with a smirk. “Or should I say who? Your face is bright red.”

Jenny cleared her throat and wiped all expressions from her face.

“Yesterday’s break room incident is a perfect example of why I shouldn’t date or hook up with somebody from work.”

“What do you mean? What incident?”

Jenny was incredulous at Gloria’s ignorance.

“When Wade walked into the break room in the middle of our conversation about my pathetic sex life!”

“So what? We’re all adults. It wasn’t professional, no, but you weren’t talking in front of clients or anything. What’s the big deal?”

“I’m never going to be able to talk to him again without being mortified,” Jenny insisted.

“Why? He didn’t seem embarrassed or offended. You’re fine.” Gloria gave her a sly look before she added, “And it’s not like you’re not already hyper-aware of him and blush with the least provocation when he’s around.”

Jenny opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out.

“Ha! I knew it! You’ve got a thing for Wade.” Gloria’s eyes sparkled with glee.

“Shh!” Jenny hissed. “We’re at work. Someone will hear you.”

“That might make it easier, don’t you think? I’m sure he’s interested in you.”

“Don’t be silly. He’s way too smart to be interested in someone like me.”

“What the hell does that mean? You’re smart, too.”

“I don’t mean it like that. Yes, I’m smart, but he’s a genius. All of you are. I’m good at what I do, but that’s nothing compared to what you guys do. He’s always much quieter around me than he is around other people. I bet he thinks he’s talking to a child when he talks to me.”

Gloria snorted. “First of all, no. You’re both brilliant. He does not think you’re a child. If he’s quiet around you, I bet it’s nerves.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’m not suggesting you marry the guy. Just fool around with him and see where it goes. That doesn’t require a whole lot of conversation.”

“Yes, it does. I told you, I’m terrible at one-night stands. I get too anxious.”

“But you’re not nervous around him. Right?”

“I will be now that you’ve put this in my head, plus yesterday’s break room fiasco, but no. I’m not nervous around Wade. To be honest, I’m comfortable around him most of the time.”

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