Not sure how many parts this will end up being, just following a thought.
*
It was Fall in the Midwest and the shorter days and inevitable colder weather were turning the hardwood trees into a kaleidoscope of beautiful color. Most of the team worked remotely across the country, but a few times a year they all gathered in Chicago at the home office to train and have the opportunity to work together for a week. It was a nice change of pace, and everyone always enjoyed the face to face time. There are nine people on the team who do a variety of different things ranging from customer service to data development. The working sessions were always good, but the co-worker bonding that occurred after work was the real reason they all liked these week long events. It was always fun to leave work behind and socialize with everyone, and Chicago is a great place to do that!
The team had all gone out for dinner together in River North, and afterward stopped at a couple of bars on Hubbard. It was always lively there, and it didn't take long to realize that the younger part of the team was headed for a long night of partying, while the rest were starting to fade out. Eventually four of them, Dan, Jennifer, Eric, and Mike, all said their good nights and caught a cab back to the hotel. The story of Dan and Jennifer begins here.
Dan had made it back to his room and settled in, grabbing a beer from the fridge in his room and had changed to lounge pants and a t-shirt. It was about half an hour afterward when his work phone buzzed. He picked it up and found a message from Jennifer.
'Hey, if you're not doing anything, would you mind helping me with a few techy things for my presentation tomorrow?'
He texted back, 'Sure, what do you need?'
'Not too much, just a few questions I can't answer. Might be easier to show you - want to come up?'
He finished his beer and thought about whether to change or not and decided not to.
'Yeah, no problem - what room?' He sent that, then added another. 'Want a beer?'
A couple minutes later his phone buzzed again. 'Do you have some? That would be great! Room 217.'
'OK I'm actually just down the hall I think. Be there in a few minutes.'
Dan went to the fridge and grabbed two beers, thought about it and grabbed two more, then stuffed the card key to his room in his pocket and headed down the hall.
Jennifer had arrived back at her room, put her hair up, and took a fast shower to freshen up. She then called her husband Jim to let him know what she had planned for the rest of the evening. With a few days left in Chicago, this was the night. She too had changed, to a pair of very tight yoga pants and a loose top without a bra. She was already nervous with anticipation when she heard the tap on her door. She walked over and opened it to find Dan standing there with two beers in each hand.
"Hey Dan, come on in." She turned and walked into the room slowly, and he couldn't stop himself from staring as she walked to the table. Jennifer is very pretty 39 year old. A petite blonde, just barely more than 5 feet tall and quite small from the waist up, a thin waistline, and a surprisingly full pear-shaped ass that Dan had never really noticed before, but the tight yoga pants she was wearing were a shot straight to his core and he wouldn't be forgetting that ass any time soon. She was a stark contrast to Dan who was well over 6 feet and a thin to medium build. He was in great shape at 48 years old due to a steady regimen of cycling, running, and weightlifting.
"I brought a couple extra beers for you. I always pick up a 12-pack when I travel - cheaper than sitting in the hotel bar."
She laughed. "Thanks, I should do that too. It would be easier than trying to slide a liquid dinner through on an expense report!"
He chuckled and handed her a beer, kept one for himself, and put the other two in her fridge. He twisted the cap on his and Jennifer handed hers to him. He handed his open beer to her, opened the second one and said "Cheers."
She smiled and answered "Cheers!" and tilted the bottle toward him before taking a long drink.
He nodded toward her open laptop and asked "Shall we?"
"Yes. Here, you sit and I'll show you where I'm stuck."
Dan sat in the task chair in front of her laptop and tapped the pad. The screen flashed and opened to a power point slide. He felt her lean against him slightly as she reached across and opened one of the slides.
"Here. I don't know how to calculate the specs for storage capacity here. Actually there are a couple of slides with this, but if you can show me how to do it I'll take care of those."
"Ah I see. Sure, it's pretty easy once you know what to add in. I'll put the calculation in the slide and you can leave it there or move it to a cheat sheet for yourself if you want, then you'll have it in the future."
She squeezed his shoulder and said "Oh thank you, that would be perfect!"
Dan spent the next few minutes explaining what he was doing and adding quick instructions to her slide. She took over and did the next one to make sure she understood, and satisfied, closed the computer.
"Thank you for showing me Dan, that will be so helpful in the future."
He smiled. "No problem, happy to help. Need anything else, or am I free to roam around the building?"
Jennifer laughed. "Nope, that's all the work either of us need for one night. I could use another beer though and looks like you're empty too?"
"Thought you'd never ask."
