Random Encounter by Allyson Lindt

Five

Phillip

I recognized the sketch of Adrienne in the employee line-up because it was mine. From last night. I thought I’d tucked that away, buried it in my sketchbook to take home and pretend the stranger in the back of the classroom didn’t summon intense memories of my past.

Seeing Adrienne’s surprise and glee at being included already pushed away any hints of frustration, but didn’t erase the tug of guilt and grief.

I kept half an ear on Dustin’s presentation as he rolled through the rest of the news. It wasn’t that I was bored, but he’d done a dry run with me for timing—he always did—and I knew what he was going to say.

My focus was on Adrienne, though. As the meeting progressed, her shoulders relaxed, the smile tugging up the corner of her lips lingered longer each time, and she rarely took her attention off Dustin.

There was something there. Maybe not a long term attraction, it was too early to tell, but definitely a fascination that ran both ways and would probably become a deeper friendship. The longer I watched her, the easier it was to separate her from the memories she’d triggered. She had a lot of mannerisms in common with Jodie, but Adrienne was starkly and beautifully her own person.

And she had already proven she clicked with Dustin. Good. That would make it easier when I left. Judith was rarely wrong about team dynamics, and I was glad I’d let her make this decision. Regardless of what the disagreement in the back of my mind was whispering.

The meeting wrapped up and Adrienne, Luna, and I headed back to our offices, Luna breaking off when we reached the Art room.

“But seriously,” Adrienne said, resting a hand on the back of her chair instead of sitting. “How did Dustin pull off that sketch of me? You probably don’t know. I thought he was in a meeting.”

“I was.” Dustin joined us. “Besides, I’m more of a charcoal and oil pastels kind of guy. Phillip did it.”

I was grateful his answer glossed over other details. “I’ll finish it up for you today.” I told her. “So if you see me staring at you, don’t think anything of it.”

“You make it sound easy.” Pink dotted her cheeks and crept down her neck.

I bet her breasts flushed as well. I wouldn’t mind the chance for a little role reversal from last night, where I got to use her and Dustin as models. That thought would wait for more exploration later.

“My part is easy. Great view, appreciative subject…” I needed to dial it back. I was rarely in the mood for a serious Dude, inappropriate.

“Judith probably explained this to you, since it’s part of her on-boarding pitch, but a lot of the people here, including Phillip, came from Cord before it was Rinslet. The company culture was, as I understand it, different,” Dustin said.

Different. I was amused at his vagueness. Dustin had never had a problem with the casual sex between co-workers, but he also continuously seemed skeptical that in our early days, as young, dumb, full of cum gamers, we’d turned our job into one big after party of orgies.

Adrienne laughed through the blush. “Different? That’s one way to put it. God, the stories I’ve refused to listen to about just how many tabs can fill slots during a launch celebration.”

She knew Cole. Most of our new hires were referrals—who someone knew did matter here, mostly because it made it easier to gauge if they’d be a good fit in this environment. “Adrienne is Luna’s other boyfriend’s sister,” I explained.

“Wow.” Adrienne’s lips formed a perfect O. “That was almost more convoluted than sister-friend-wife-in-law.”

“Wait. You know The Wizard.” Dustin met Cole once, and was fascinated with him. Or maybe not with Cole so much as his history. He was a jack of all trades at Rinslet, Judith’s ex-husband, and one of the few people we knew who’d walked away from the gaming industry almost completely.

Adrienne raised her eyebrows. “It’s my understanding, from him, that no one called him The Wizard.”

“Only Judith.” It all seemed like so long ago, and at the same time, some of those memories were still fresh. I mentally cleared my throat to kick myself back on track. “Dustin’s point is, I’m sure”—to distract Adrienne from asking when I sketched her—“if I, or anyone, get to be too much…”

“I know. If I see something, say something. So far, I’m good,” Adrienne said.

I liked her. She was going to fit in great here. “Back to work. You’ve had all of a morning to be overwhelmed, but do you have any questions so far? About anything?”

“I’m sure I do. But right now, I don’t know what I don’t know. Um… Oh.” Her face lit up. “What are your five things?”

She meant the game she’d walked in on between me and Dustin. My mind blanked as I reached for an answer that didn’t sound as cold as the truth. “What?” Not my best comeback ever.

“Dustin said people should talk to me if they wanted to get to know me. Goes both ways, doesn’t it? Your five things you’d leave behind in a zombie apocalypse.”

“It’s just a game we play. Prompt changes every time.” Still not a great answer. Why did this one thing knock me off balance? Because the answer was I could leave it all behind, and she’d take that wrong.

“Let’s get lunch.” Dustin’s changing the subject was neither smooth nor subtle, but I was grateful for it.

Adrienne furrowed her brow. “It’s not even eleven thirty.”

“True. But the best places fill up at noon, so we want a table early, and it’s your first day, so we might be there a while, making sure we’re a cohesive team,” Dustin said. “What do you like? Chinese? Italian? Mexican? Indian?”

Adrienne shrugged. “How boring am I that I’m always on the prowl for the perfect sandwich?”

I’ve got your perfect sandwich right here. You, between the two of us. Nope. This was now, not fifteen years ago, and telling the new employee she’d look even tastier stuffed from both sides was most definitely inappropriate.

“There’s a great place about two blocks down. We’ll walk, enjoy the sunshine, and talk about what you were doing in that classroom last night.” I shouldn’t bring that up again, she’d looked embarrassed enough the first time, but I was genuinely curious and I wanted to make sure the topic ceased being taboo.

Adrienne grabbed her purse. “Fine. But you owe me the same in return. I’ve seen your dicks, you can at least tell me why they were hanging out. Actual answer on this one.” She winced and covered her face with her hand, peeking out between her fingers after a heartbeat. “I mean… I didn’t mean however that sounded. Please don’t take that wrong.”

I really liked her. “I won’t. Just this once.”

“You’d better leave it an open-ended offer.” She finally lowered her hand. “It’s going to happen a lot.”

“So let it.” I jerked my thumb toward the elevator. “Last night. Spill.”

The three of us stepped into a waiting lift. “If you’re looking for lurid or interesting, you won’t get it from me,” Adrienne said. “Scarlet Barton knew my brother when he worked at the university, and introduced me. Creating at home hasn’t always been the easiest, so she lets me use a studio whenever I want, and sit in on any classes I’m interested in.”

Dustin turned to face us, back to the doors, as we rode down. “Including the naked ones.”

“Figure drawing is part of the curriculum, and I like drawing figures.” Adrienne’s tone was casual with a hitch.

Dustin ginned. “So I saw.”

“Once again, I’m not the one who was naked.” The longer she talked, the less hesitant Adrienne sounded.

“And I’m not the one who was embarrassed.” Dustin stepped backwards off the elevator, not looking until all of us had cleared the doors.

I wasn’t letting his throw-away comment turn things stilted and awkward again. “Scarlet and I go way back. We were in graduate school together. She called me last night, said she had a last-minute cancellation and did I know anyone? It sounded like fun, so I volunteered us.”

We stepped outside, and the sun caught the golden highlights in Adrienne’s light brown hair. As if they’d planned it, she and Dustin both paused and turned their faces toward the heat, their eyes closed.

Stunning.

“Let me make sure I understand—a friend calls, says I need someone to take their clothes off for a classroom full of college students, and your first reaction is I’m in.” Adrienne’s voice was calm. She finally opened her eyes again and met my gaze.

I shrugged. “Yup.”

She looked at Dustin. “And you were just like okay, dude, let’s go.”

“I’ve seen him naked before. I was pretty sure my lust was sated enough to control myself for an hour or two.”

Not any longer than that, but I wasn’t complaining about the way last night ended.

“Right. Co-workers, friends, and fuck-buddies.” Adrienne sounded skeptical. “And I’m not quite sure I understand how easy it was for either of you to sign on, but I see other people do it all the time, so I’ll stop projecting my insecurities on you.”

We headed toward the sandwich place, and the sounds of downtown traffic filled in the lull in the conversation.

Dustin started to whistle, most likely whatever he’d heard last on his playlist of the week. It was something he did when he was relaxed and unfocused, and it was always nice to hear.

“I never got the hang of whistling,” Adrienne said. “Not sure if it’s the putting my lips together part or the blowing part.” Her step faltered.

“Only one way to find out,” I said before she could take it back.

“Practice makes perfect.” Dustin didn’t miss a beat.

The bright red on Adrienne’s cheeks was exaggerated in the sunshine, but it looked good on her. “Do not encourage the random outbursts. I’m bad enough as it is. The number of times I’ve been told I seriously need help.”

“You seriously need to not worry about it.” I hated it when people filtered their thoughts. If this was Adrienne uncut, good. “I already told you, it’s not a problem.”

“I will help you with the whistling, though. Come here.” Dustin stepped in front of Adrienne, stopping them both.

I paused as well, curious.

“Make a tight circle with your mouth.” Dustin dragged a thumb over Adrienne’s bottom lip.

Her sharp intake of breath matched mine. Such an alluring sight.

“There’s your problem.” Dustin smirked. “Blowing means the air goes out, not in.” He whistled again, a light and carefree melody.

Adrienne blew out a puff of air, which sounded exactly like that—a puff of air.

“Your tongue needs to work with your teeth and lips.” Dustin nudged her shoulder lightly with his own, and we were all walking again.

“I thought teeth were a big no-no with blowing.” Adrienne winced.

Smart woman. “I’m with her on this,” I said.

Dustin sighed. “For whistling. I work with a pair of fucking perverts.”

“Takes one to know one.” I couldn’t argue the observation.

“I may be inexperienced, but I’m seeing a distinct lack of fucking.” This time Adrienne barely flinched.

Good.

“Left it back at the office. Don’t worry, you’ll get your fill.”

I could take Dustin’s words so many ways. But there was a line between innuendo and outright descriptions of the sex we’d had, and I should steer clear of the latter. Probably. Maybe. “Have you?”

“Gotten my fill? As in… physically or is this more of a psychological thing?” Dustin asked.

“Unless those renderings come to life, I’m guessing not physical.” Adrienne plucked a loose leaf that had landed in a nearby bush and rolled the stem between her fingers. “And tangent, but orcs are not nearly as well hung as I expected.”

And I’d made them that way on purpose. If someone wanted to play the big guy, they didn’t get a huge cock for it. “It’s all the muscle mass. Makes a dick look smaller.”

She glanced at me, disbelief sprawled across her face. “Right. I can hear it now. I don’t have a tiny penis. I just work out a lot.” She spoke in a false baritone.

Dustin and I laughed.

She’d been here half a day and she already fit so well. I couldn’t have gotten luckier in finding a replacement.

And the longer she was around, the better she slid into the culture, the less the pit inside over leaving would bother me.