“Do you have a place yet?” I ask him through my final sniffles.
“Soon, I have a couple of leads that I’m sure will pan out. I move in a month.”
“I miss you so much, Vic,” I confess.
“I miss you, too, Josie Girl. Soon enough you’ll wish I was gone, though, I’m gonna bug the shit out of you.” He laughs.
My heart feels a bit lighter now that I’ve calmed down, so we continue our bantering about nothing. We get along so well that I’ve always wondered if he could be a Match, but I can barely remember what he smells like. Then again, I’m not sure I want us to be. If we are Matches, is he going to want a full Pack? I’m not sure how I would handle that. It’s always been just me. Even if we ended up as a Pack of three, who would we find for an Alpha? What Alpha wants an Omega with Touch Sickness?
No, for now it’s better to keep my brain firmly in the friend zone, I don’t need to get ahead of myself. I can focus on just enjoying our friendship and worry about the rest later. My bestie is going to be here soon, and I can’t wait to see him again.
two
JESSE
The screen in front of me blurs again. I think I’ve forgotten to blink. What time is it? Leaning back into my chair, I rub my eyes with the heels of my palms, willing moisture back into them. I came in early today to get some extra coding done, and apparently, I haven’t moved much. Have I moved at all? Getting in the zone is easy, getting out of it? Not so much. People at work know I’m not a “people person,” so I don’t go into the office much. I prefer to stay at my condo.
However, today I wanted the extra boost of the company network and servers, so I came here to plug straight in. It was well worth it for the amount of work I got done. There was a particularly tricky piece of code that I needed the extra computer power for. With the speed of my office network, I was able to solve it in half the time. Then I got sucked into other projects.
When I glance at the clock, I note that it’s after lunch already. I’ve been here since four or five this morning, so I decide I’m done for today. I pack up my things and take the back exit of the building, doing my best to avoid people. They always want to talk, and I can’t understand why. I don’t need to know about every detail of their lives, and they sure don’t need to know about mine.
Raking a hand through my hair, I let out a sigh of relief once I’m out of the building. It’s short-lived, though, because one of my colleagues is on their way back in. Probably from lunch, like a normal person.
“Hey Jesse! Fancy seeing you here!” he says.
“Yup,” I answer.
Do I know his name? Probably. Do I care to remember? Not right now. Maybe I can get through this without admitting that.
“Did you get that code fixed? I know you mentioned it was giving you trouble,” the guy goes on.
“Yeah, fixed it this morning. Merged it into the branch, good to test.”
“Awesome, I can let our testers know, I know it’s something the boss has been chomping at the bit for. Good thing we’ve got you around.”
“Thanks. See ya.” I end our conversation with a nod and walk past him, aiming for my car.
“See ya!” he calls after, as if I didn’t just awkwardly walk away.
I grimace internally, knowing that I really should open up and talk to people more. But I’ve got no good reason to. It’s exhausting trying to talk to people, to try and remember things about them so they think I actually care. Newsflash, I don’t care. At all. I don’t wish them ill, but I don’t really give a shit about other people. I like my space. I like my quiet.
When I finally pull into my driveway, I feel all the tension finally roll off me. I’m ready to relax in my quiet condo, with nobody nearby. I moved in about a year ago, and I’ve never had a problem with noise or my neighbors. Most of the neighbors are retired, so it’s perfect. Except for the woman I share a wall with. I only see her in passing, but I stare every time.
She’s tall, always has her beautiful auburn hair in a ponytail, and seems just as solitary as I am. I never see anyone come toher home. It’s only ever her leaving. Just like me. There’s never a chance to talk to her, and I’m not about to disrupt her peace just to say hi. No, that sounds like a terrible choice. If she turns out to be horrible, I’m not sure I can take my fantasy being shattered by reality.
I grab my laptop bag and lock my car door before turning and freezing in place. She’s just locking up her own door, leaving her condo as I’m just getting in. I’ve never had the chance to ever talk to her, and I don’t know if she’s even aware that I exist. Do I approach her? Should I leave well enough alone? The decision is made for me when her purse slips off her shoulder just enough to spill all over her walkway and grass.
“Oh, shit!” I hear as I walk over.
Hiding my smile at the sound of her swearing, I take the final couple of steps toward her and grab a couple of tubes from the ground. She’s so effortlessly adorable. I hold the tubes out.
“Here, your… uh… tubes.”
Her eyes flash to mine, warm brown eyes wide with surprise. She must not have heard me approaching.
“Mywhat?” she asks.
Her voice soothing, not too high-pitched, but still incredibly feminine. I look down at my hand dumbly.
