Candy Hearts Galore
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Published for the 2025 Valentine's Day contest and for the 2025 Pink Orchid for Women-Centric Erotica event.
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BE-MINE
DINNER?
TEXT-ME
Panic rose up in my chest and questions rattled around in my brain as I saw those three candy hearts sitting on my desk after I came back from lunch on Valentine's Day. How had he known? How had he figured out I had been sneaking candy hearts onto his desk for over a week? But most importantly, was he truly interested in me?
Let me back up a little. I'm Patricia, but I go by Patty, and had been working at my job for nearly eight months before that fateful day. When I graduated from high school, my grandparents gave me a chunk of change and encouraged me to travel some, visit them and relax for a year before going off to college. I traveled a lot and did stay with them for a couple of months. When I got back home, I got a low-paying job to keep busy while I thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn't interested in doing the full university thing but knew I needed some further education if I wanted to avoid having to ask if the customers 'wanted fries with that' for the rest of my life.
I eventually went to the junior college in town and spoke with their career counselor. She told me about their Office Studies program; two years of classes which emphasized practical knowledge for working in the modern, complex and fast-paced business office. There were courses on spreadsheets, word processing, basic accounting, payroll management, tax laws and much, much more. Once I got my AA degree, with honors I might add, I went looking for work. I was turned down so many times I lost count but I eventually got a job as the 'receptionist' at Patterson and Associates, a medium-sized consulting and software development firm. I almost turned Mr. Patterson down until he promised he would expand my duties to include a lot of what I had covered at the J.C. once I got my feet wet. It seems he was getting tired of doing a lot of the day-to-day paperwork, though it's all computer work nowadays, and wanted to eventually turn most of it over. I happily accepted the position with the understanding I would have my responsibilities expand as time went on.
Shortly after I started there, I became aware of a computer guy named Jerrod. Oh, sweet Jesus, was he ever handsome, at least to me. Everything about him was perfect though I know lots of girls wouldn't have been interested. I'm pretty tiny at five feet even, well, four feet eleven and a half, if I'm being honest, and I'm not into tall guys. If I stand next to one, people might think I'm their daughter or little sister, but Jerrod was medium height, perfect for standing next to and even kissing. He was thinner than average but I could sense he had some muscles under those button-up shirts he wore, unlike the T-shirts so many computer jockeys wear. And on warm days when he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, those lean, muscular forearms drew my eyes and caused my mind to imagine what those arms and hands could do for and to me. He had a mop of brown hair long enough to run my fingers through but it was never shaggy or unkempt, deep blue eyes, a cute smile and a little divot on his chin. Even his glasses were stylish and modern, unlike those worn by most computer nerds. I thought he looked fabulous, pure and simple, but like I said, I don't believe too many gals would agree.
Jerrod worked in the main room in the cubicle farm and I would see him from time to time though he would rarely come by my desk on the way to his. And wouldn't you know it: he was so hot, at least in my book, that I would get so nervous and tongue-tied when he came by that I could barely talk to him. I would end up stammering, avoid looking at him and pretending to be busy with something on my desk. And that was so unlike my usual friendly, confident and gregarious self. I'm sure he thought I was a complete loser since I wouldn't, actually couldn't, talk with him. But boy did I lust for him and he was always the object of my late-night trips downtown.
The funny thing is my shyness with him was pretty unusual for me. Sure, I wasn't Miss Popularity in high school but I had dated quite a bit there, during my gap year and at the J.C. And I was no blushing virgin either, having taken care of that a few years before. So, I wasn't a total social klutz but when he came around, my lust meter pegged out, my calm melted into a puddle of nerves and, speaking of puddles, I would have a puddle develop somewhere else. And darn it, I had no control over how my body was reacting.
Since I was at the front desk, I was privy to a lot of personnel information and found out early on he was unattached, was several years older than me and he had impressed Mr. Patterson on all his annual reviews. All in all, Jerrod seemed like the perfect guy. But I couldn't get past my bizarre shyness whenever he was around.
In late January, I was at the local grocery store where I ran across a Valentine's Day display. There were boxes of chocolate, cute little gifts and bags upon bags of candy hearts, you know, the kind with little messages printed on them. For some reason, on the spur of the moment, I bought a bag and hid it in my desk, mainly to keep nosey coworkers from stealing them. It was early on a Monday morning about a week before Valentine's when I went to grab a few candies and my eye was drawn to one with the words BE-MINE on it. I don't know why, but once I looked around and saw no one else had arrived, I took the candy and put it on Jerrod's desk. For the rest of the day, I wondered what he had thought of the candy but since I wasn't near the cubicles, I never saw what happened.
Around ten the next morning, I pulled out a nice one saying U-R-A-QT which I wanted to put on his desk, but by then he was working away. I waited until lunch and when he was gone and everyone else was preoccupied, I went to the ladies' room and discreetly tossed the candy onto his desk on my way.
By Wednesday, I started to think this might be a way to tell him someone thought he was extra special so I went in early and left him another one saying KISS-ME, only because they didn't have one which said SCREW-ME-SENSELESS. Now, I know this may sound like a junior high stunt, yet here I was in my twenties acting ten years younger, all because I had developed the incredible hots for him.
On Thursday, I left another one: HUG-ME.
Friday's candy PICK-ME was already on his desk when he came by and talked with me on the way to his desk! I was so nervous he had figured out I was the candy fairy that I could barely speak. He said "Good morning, Patricia," and all I could do was say, "Hi." Unfortunately, I went on and corrected him telling him, "It's Patty." Oh God, what a loser I was!
Like, here was the hottest thing on two legs talking to me and I could only look down at my desk, nervously fiddle with my pen and correct him. This was the guy I was lusting after, yet I acted like a shy three-year-old hiding behind her mother's skirt. He must have thought I was an idiot. I was so embarrassed! He would never be interested in me after that. Despite my embarrassment, I did it again on Monday, the day before Valentine's Day; I dropped I'M-URS on his desk.
Tuesday, Valentine's Day, was when things went haywire. I had put I-WANT-U on his desk early in the morning and had resolved to stop the whole thing the next day. I mean, I couldn't even talk with him because I was so nervous, so what good did it do to keep sending him little anonymous messages? Midmorning saw him come to my desk and wish me a happy Valentine's and ask if I had a date, which, of course, I didn't; I hadn't had a decent date in months.
Mr. Patterson had asked me to run something important to the post office over lunch and when I returned, there were those three little candy hearts on my desk. He knew! I mean, it had to be him. Who else could it be? But how? We didn't have video monitoring in the office, I dropped the candies only when I knew I wouldn't be seen and no one even knew I had them in the office. Somehow, he had figured it out. My fingers were shaking with nerves when I went to text him, but at least he couldn't see them. I typed in and erased the message about ten times before I ultimately hit send with my shaking finger.
How did U figure it out?
I have my ways Glad it was you
I nearly swooned with happiness. He liked me! Even though I was a total social klutz and a ball of nerves in front of him, he liked me. I typed in a gutsy response and sent it before my anxiety prevented me from doing it.
Tx 4 the invite. Now I have a hot date 2nite!
Then nothing! No return text. No phone call. Nothing. Just what was going on? Had I pushed too much with my last text? Was he getting back at me for my stupid teenage behavior? I could barely concentrate but fortunately the phones were pretty quiet and the project Mr. Patterson had me working on was nearly done. I sat there with my heart racing and stomach churning for nearly two hours before my cell lit up.
"Hello?" I squeaked out.
"Oh, Hi, Patty. It's Jer."
"Hi." There I went again, barely able to talk.
"Say, I've been trying to find a place for dinner but it seems everywhere is booked."
"Oh," I stammered out, "That's OK, uh-"
"No, it's not. I invited you for dinner and dinner it will be. I'll meet you at your desk at five. OK?"
"Yeah, sure. Am I dressed OK for dinner?"
"Yes. Your outfit is perfect. See you then."
"Yeah. Uh, Jerrod?"
"Jer, call me Jer."
"Jer? Thank you for the invite and thank you for not making fun of me."
"Patty, when I found out it was you, I was thrilled. I couldn't make fun of you over that."
"But how did you figure it out?"
"Like I said, I have my ways. See you at five."
