Everyone involved is over 18.
*
It was Friday afternoon at the office. Samantha or Sam to her friends sat across the cubicle lane from her work friend Meredith. "It is getting to be around that time," she thought to herself as she glanced up at the wall clock. Meredith was focused on verifying time sheets and did not notice when Gary strolled in.
Gary was mid height and, Sam had noticed, actually a little cut underneath his poorly-selected work clothes. His brown curly hair was cut just short enough to minimize being a hassle in the morning, and his glasses were about ten years out of date. He is a diamond in the rough, Sam observed.
Clearly by the attention he paid to Meredith he was straight. A little, no scratch that, very geeky. But then so was Meredith with her frumpy blouse and whatever scifi-themed skirt she was wearing today. Her black and coincidentally also curly hair was in a ponytail to keep it out of her fifteen year out of date glasses.
Gary walked up cautiously, not wanting to interrupt Meredith. The two visited often enough that he was comfortable with coming by, but their body language hadn't yet crossed over to the comfort that people who are intimate have with each other. He waited until she had reached the page and spoke up, "Uh hey Meredith-how's it going?" Meredith put down her pencil and turned to face him, a small smile slipped onto her face, "Oh hi Gary. Did you catch Dr. Space last night?"
Gary smiled back, nervousness gone, "I did! Can't wait to see how he gets out of this one!"
Meredith nodded, "Totally! But I bet blah blah blah...", Sam tuned out as they spouted technogeek babble to one another for five minutes before Gary reached the end of acceptable "away from your desk" time. He turned to go then seemed to find courage for a second and turned back, "Hey uh Meredith. We had talked about you watching Captain Fluffy if I had to go out of town for the tech convention." Captain Fluffy was his oversize Maine Coon. Meredith had loved him at first sight and had come very close to putting him in her purse and taking him home with her if he wasn't so big.
Meredith paused for a second then remembered, "Oh yes! Next month right?"
Gary nodded back, "Yeah you can bring a guest but right now I'm stag." He paused, nervous again, "But I wanted to give you a key to my apartment so you could stop by, uh, you know whenever."
He held out a house key on some sort of robot-shaped keychain. Meredith looked at it for a moment as if it was some foreign thing then grabbed it, slipping it into her purse. Gary's hand went up to his head and he scratched nervously, both seemingly relieved yet in some way, even more nervous. "Okay well back to the code! Catch you later-Oh hi Sam! Sorry I didn't see you."
Sam smiled and subtly pulled down slightly on her blouse giving him a decent look at her ladies. She did love to tease him so! "Hi Gary-I'll catch you later!"
He swallowed and waved as he headed back to his floor.
Meredith smiled as he left then turned back to her records. Sam frowned then slid over across the aisle. Meredith looked up surprised. Sam gave her a mildly stern look, "How long are you going to drag him along?"
Meredith frowned then looked down. "What do you mean?" she asked, not wanting to make eye contact. Sam would have none of it.
"You know what I mean. He clearly likes you. You have your geek nonsense in common. I've known him two years and he is not one of the macho pigs that usually flow through here. You two would be adorable together." She paused, her look getting sterner the leaned in slightly, "Are you 'Friend Zoning' him?"
Meredith bit her lip then took a deep breath, "It's not that I don't like him. I mean we have fun doing stuff together and everything. It's just..."
"Just what?" Sam demanded.
"It's just that, well, I just don't see him as a, uh you know, sexual being."
Sam stared at her, trying to process what she just heard. "What like you think of him as a brother or some crap because I know a website full of hot incest stories if that is what it takes!'
Meredith's eyes opened wide, "Really? Where-I mean no! Not like a brother!" She paused for a second and stared off into space, trying to congeal her thoughts into rational words. "It's like I can't see him even having sex. With me, with anyone. I know it's not fair but I see him as a non-sexual being for some reason."
Same crossed her arms and leaned back, "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard about why someone does not like a man."
Meredith shrugged and laughed nervously, "I know right? I don't get it myself. Maybe if I saw him having sex or something it's just that you now-most of the guys around here run around in a state of half arousal most of the time."
Sam knew and Meredith was irritated by the situation. Sam had not gotten any in a long time herself but would not touch any of the men she worked with without rubber gloves and a mask. Gary was different though.
"Yeah but did you see him at the company picnic last year doing the tug of war? He's pretty cut under those Wal-Mart reject dress shirts."
Meredith bit her lip again, "I guess I just can't see that for some reason. Maybe if I could...but I don't." Again she shrugged and went back to her reports.