The eighth floor of Emertech is usually populated by roughly 60 employees. Out of them, about 40 are women, 30 of which are unattached. Janey Samson used to be one of them. Six weeks earlier she had a one-night stand with her workaholic colleague Adrian Greene. This later evolved into a fuck buddy relationship which ended when she started dating someone seriously. There were no hard feelings between the two and they remained friends. Oddly, Adrian worked less for a day before the one-nighter, worked more efficiently the following six weeks and had now gone back to square one. Another one of the unattached women was Sophia. She was African-American, had waist-long black hair, was in her late 20s and had been watching Adrian for the past week. He being watched by his colleagues was not uncommon, but it was usually with the same fascination one watches an anthill with. Sophia watched him the same way Janey had before she and he had sex. Finally, Sophia walked up to Adrian right before lunch hour fully began.
"You're Adrian, right?"
"Yes," Adrain answered skeptically, "I am. Can I help you?"
"Do you know Janey Samson? Heard you've spent time together lately?"
"We know each other, yes."
"How?"
"Ask her, not me."
"Why can't you tell?"
"Ask her," Adrian repeated somewhat annoyed. "Not me. You might be able to catch her before she leaves."
Sophia left quickly and was able to catch up with Janey in the lobby and have lunch with her at a nearby coffee shop. After a lot of small talk, she revealed the reason for the meeting.
"You talked about a guy you were seeing, like, a week ago."
"Yes, I did."
"The guy who was, quote, 'fucking fantastic in bed', unquote."
"What about him?"
"He's not the guy you're seeing now, Jason, or whatever his name is?"
"I've only been seeing him for a few weeks."
"Then who was 'Mr Fucking Fantastic'?"
"Why do you care?"
"It was Adrian Greene, wasn't it?"
Janey suddenly looked shocked and whispered:
"What? How do you know?"
"Until two months ago, he warded off people like a rabid watchdog. All of a sudden, you two have lunches together and talk during office hours. He even stops typing when you come close to his desk. A lifetime of therapy doesn't make changes like that."
Janey sighed.
"We had casual sex regularly for a few weeks, but broke it off when I met Jason."
"No sparks between you and Adrian?"
"We had a slight crush for each other, but no. We planned it to be temporary and we're both fine. We needed it."
"If he was so good, how come neither of you have told anyone?"
"He was uncomfortable with that kind of attention, but I couldn't keep something like that secret. I didn't use his name, but you figured it out. Guess someone else will as well in a short time. Why do you want to know anyway?"
"I was kinda hoping I could borrow him for one night."
"'Borrow' him? He's not a car or a library book."
"I know, but is he available?"
"As far as I know, yes."
"Are you fine with it?"
"He and I are not dating. He's a grown man, capable of making his own decisions. If you want to sleep with him, talk with him, not me."
"I was hoping you could ask. He listens to you."
Janey considered for a moment.
"Sure, I'll ask him."
Eventually, a meeting was arranged at Sophia's apartment on the week's Friday. Adrian had been doubtful, but was reassured by Janey. He was nervous when he arrived. Sophia had lit a number of candles, unplugged the phone and turned off the electric lights.
"Hi," she said when she opened the door and saw him in his coat with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey."
She let him in and took off his coat.
"You look scared. I expected you to be used to this by now."
"With Janey, yes."
"What, never dated someone of color before?"
"That's not what I meant. And no, I haven't."
"Don't worry about it," Sophia said and moved towards him. "It's the same."
She made a kiss which Adrian eventually kissed back to. She then started unbuttoning her blouse.
"You can still back out," she said, "but then you would miss..."
She quickly let her blouse fall to the floor, leaving her whole upper body topless.
"These..."
