Toxic Attraction

DING

Lester rolled his eyes and pushed his phone further away across his desk. He turned back to his computer monitor trying to focus on his game. All he wanted to do was play his new game, Helldivers 2, but between his cellphone and Discor,d people kept bothering him.

On-screen, Lester was alone, the last member alive from his team, battling against hordes of alien creatures.

DING

Lester glanced away at the distraction of his phone screen lighting up. When he looked back at his monitor, a giant alien bug was mutilating his character's corpse.

"God FUCKING DAMMIT," Lester said, flinging his mouse across his desk as his phone began to ring. He angrily reached over and saw who it was. Jesse, Dan's old coworker.

"What?" Lester almost shouted into the phone as he answered it.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you," Jesse said breathlessly as Lester retrieved his mouse from the room's corner and started checking his Discord notifications. He ignored the messages from his private server and instead opened up the one he shared with his D&D group. "I was wondering if Sarah mentioned anything about me since that night at the club?"

Lester had to stifle a laugh, "Come again?"

"Has Sarah mentioned me?" Jesse repeated, "I know she felt something on the dance floor. It was like we were moving together, completely in sync. I can't completely explain it, but I felt this magnetic pull between us, and I know she felt it too--until Dan ruined it, of course."

"How many times have you jerked it to that memory, kid?" Lester cycled through messages from his group until he saw the most recent one from Shadowweaver, aka Eugene, the royal pain in his ass.

"Uhhhh," Jesse nervously laughed into the phone, causing Lester to frown.

"What is it you want, Jesse? To answer your question, no, Sarah hasn't mentioned anything about you." Lester said while reading Eugene's message. Ever since Ned had mentioned to the group that Lester had a girlfriend, Eugene had been ragging on him to prove it, adamant that he was lying and making this woman up.

Usually, Lester wouldn't care, but since Lester joined their D&D group, Eugene was the only player who wouldn't capitulate to Lester's demands. Quite the opposite, he was the one who always had to be diametrically opposed to whatever Lester wanted, almost out of spite, it seemed. The older man pissed Lester off to no end, but Lester had to maintain appearances. Very few active groups played in Chicago that would have him, especially with what Lester had done in his last group.

"Can you give her a message for me, Lester? I need her to know how I feel. So she can feel assured about leaving Dan," Jesse pleaded.

Lester wanted to put Jesse out of his misery and block his number. His ramblings were pathetic. Still, Lester didn't want to take a pawn off the board. As the Russians would say, Jesse was a useful idiot.

"Jesse," Lester said calmly. It's not a good time for her to hear that message. Listen, I will contact you when the time is right, okay? Goodbye."

"But, uhh, I did what you wanted. I really should have another--" Lester heard Jesse hurriedly trying to make a last plea to his obsession. Lester hung up and silenced his phone. He focused back on Eugene's text, replying to something Ned had said in the group chat.

Shadowweaver: "Bullshit. That's as fake as Lester's 'hot' girlfriend."

Keeping his life in siloed had always been Lester's modus operandi. When one silo got tainted, he could burn it completely without poisoning the others. But now Lester was thinking about how Sarah could help him shut Eugene down once and for all. It was a risk worth taking - Sometimes, you had to cross the streams. He typed up a response.

Darkspire: I'll host Saturday's D&D game at my place. I'll bring my 'pretend' girlfriend too.

Surgebinder: WOOOOO

Lester rolled his eyes at Ned's dumb response.

What a moron

Shadowweaver: This is your first time hosting in ten years. I guess I finally got under your skin. Since we're playing make-believe, I'll bring Santa on a unicorn.

Lester exited Discord and went back to his game. He didn't like deviating from his plan with Sarah, but sometimes, he needed to put people in their place. Eugene'd had it coming for a long time. He knew deep down that this kind of emotional response could derail long-term plans, but Eugene was a long-term problem that he could solve once and for all.

***

Sarah walked quickly down the hallways to keep pace with John, the Interim CEO from the board. He'd had them in back-to-back meetings with department heads and outside vendors, trying to pivot the direction of the hospital. John was a head taller than she was, and she had to walk briskly to keep up with his casual gait. Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked. Sarah loved this pair of heels; they matched her black slacks well. She looked professional today with a conservative brown sweater and dress shirt underneath. The shirt's cuffs extending beyond the sweater's sleeves were slightly rolled up. The collar of the shirt framed her neck demurely.

They were heading up to a meeting on the third floor with Marcie from HR. As the elevator doors closed behind them, John said "Great work on finding those cost savings in the diagnostics department. They've been dragging their asses for months on doing that."

"Thank you, John. It's just part of the job," Sarah said, smiling back at him.

"No," John said, looking into her eyes, "It really isn't. You go above and beyond your role here. You keep this place running. That's been obvious since the first week I was here. You're a real asset, and we're lucky to have you."

He placed his arm on her bicep and gently squeezed it as he smiled. Sarah didn't know how to answer, and they stared awkwardly before the elevator doors opened. His hand quickly left her bicep and moved to hold the elevator door, letting Sarah exit first.

"How's progress on the CEO hunt?" Sarah said, changing the subject while trying not to sound too eager as they walked to their meeting.

"Slow but good," John said as they turned a corner. "I can't say much, obviously, but a couple of external candidates look promising."

As they reached the meeting room, John stopped outside the door and added, "...and there's one internal candidate getting a lot of attention."

John winked at her and then walked into the meeting room. Sarah smiled to herself for several seconds, basking in the glow of a job well done. She gave herself five seconds to enjoy it before putting on her best poker face and following John through the door.

***

Dan had a few minutes before his meeting started, so he looked at his LinkedIn page. Today, he was meeting with some people from the Elevate Engagement Group, but Dan didn't have high expectations for the meeting.

They were Chicago-based and discovered him because of his new social strategy. They'd reached out with questions and wanted to meet with him. Dan was on his lunch break for the call. He didn't want Walt to discover what he was doing, and after Lester had walked naked through his job interview, he'd opted not to take any calls at home either.

That's why he was posted in the Starbucks a few blocks from his office. He had also learned how to put a virtual background on and cancel ambient noise to make these calls a bit more controlled and professional.

Hesitantly, Dan typed Jesse's name into LinkedIn's search bar to see what that kid was up to since he'd been fired. Dan felt a little bad about what happened, but ultimately, he'd done what he needed to do to protect Sarah.

Dan felt a lead weight drop onto his stomach when he saw where Jesse was working now. Not only had Jesse landed a job before he had, but Jesse had landed one of the positions Dan had applied for. He was now a director at a competing firm in the city.

A Director!

Jesse could barely tie his shoelaces, and within a week of his dismissal, he'd landed a better job than Dan. Dan pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed out, trying not to work himself up before his call with the potential new client. Not only had Jesse just recently groped his wife at a club, but now that little shit was doing better than him. Dan briefly imagined Jesse comfortably paying a Middleton mortgage, having two kids, a gorgeous wife, and no Chicago roommate.

Sometimes, Dan just wanted to give a middle finger to life. This was one of those times.

He checked the time and quickly started closing the windows on his laptop. He had gotten so lost in LinkedIn and Jesse's profile that the meeting had snuck up on him. He was a minute late and quickly logged on.

"Hey there," a friendly voice said through his headphones. A handsome man's face appeared on his screen. He looked friendly and probably ten years younger than Dan. It looked like he was calling in from his home office. "Dan, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Bill from Elevate Engagement. How are you?"

"Hey Bill, nice to meet you. Doing alright for a Monday. How about yourself? How was your weekend?" Dan immediately fell into his professional small talk voice that he had honed and perfected over the years.

"The weekend was..." Bill hesitated for a second. It seemed like something in the background at Bill's house had distracted him, "Good. Yeah, it was good. My wife and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary."

"Oh congratulations," Dan looked at the screen, wondering if anyone else from Elevate would join them, "What did you guys get up to? Go out to one of the restaurants in the city?"

"No....uh," Bill hesitated again. This time Dan heard a thump sound from Bill's microphone. Bill looked like he'd heard it too but quickly recovered. "We actually stayed in. Kept it low-key. My wife Amber wanted to watch some home movies."

"Well that sounds nice too," Dan smiled. "Sometimes it's just nice to spend an evening alone, just the two of you. I get that."

Bill's face changed briefly as if Dan had just triggered a verbal landmine. It was a brief moment where a storm of distress was apparent on the man's face. Bill's friendly demeanor quickly returned, "Right, yeah. It was. So, Dan, I'm not sure where my colleagues are but let me just give you some background. We're considering expanding with a new office in California, but buildings and architecture aren't really our strong suit. We wanted to reach out and pick your brain on a few things."

"Sure," Dan said, sitting back in his chair, realizing that this call probably wouldn't lead to a paying gig. "Let's start; what kind of questions do you have for us?"

Dan chatted with Bill for the entirety of his lunch break. He explained in depth what Bill and his company should look for before thinking about building a new office building in another state as well as what they should look for when drawing up architectural drawings and hiring a contractor.

Bill took a lot of notes and mentioned that they might reach out with more questions. He even asked if Dan was open to consulting on small projects like the one they discussed. Dan mentioned that he was, and shortly after that, the call ended. He wasn't optimistic about the potential work they'd discussed, but Bill seemed like a solid guy. Maybe they'd get a beer someday when Dan was back on his feet.

As Dan returned to the office, he rechecked his email, hoping for news from the other prospect he had been chasing down. He sighed as he only saw junk mail in his inbox. Later that night he would reach out to his contact. The company was called Sentinel Security Solutions. They were planning on building a massive new data center. Dan had a consulting contract in front of them. He was just waiting for it to get signed.

Dan rode the elevator back up to the office in silence. All he wanted to do was get through this week and spend time with Sarah when she drove up on Friday.

***

"Mhmmm, I've missed you," Sarah said as she embraced Dan in the living room of the Chicago apartment. Waiting the rest of the week for their reunion had been agonizing. "It's been a crazy week at work."

Dan held his wife tightly, not wanting to let her go. He inhaled the scent of her hair and felt the neurons firing in his brain. Memories of the two of them together flashed to the front of his mind, "Well at least from what you've told me it sounds like work is on an upward trajectory for you. I might even be calling you CEO soon."

Sarah pulled back and looked at her husband, lightly slapping his chest, "Don't jinx it. It feels weird even just getting my hopes up about it. But I'd be lying if I hadn't convinced myself I could actually get it. It just feels so strange."

"It's a huge shift in your career and for us," Dan stroked her arms and looked into her eyes, "And a welcome one. After all my career issues this last little while, it's nice to have some good news we can celebrate. I feel like I've just been treading water lately. I'm happy for you."

"Don't count yourself out just yet, mister," Sarah let go of her carry-on bag and removed her jacket, "From what I'm hearing, you're starting to make some good connections with your LinkedIn work. Something is going to happen there. I know it."

"Well, I just wish things would happen faster," Dan sighed, "I'm putting in all this extra time and energy, but no bites yet."

"What about that one company? The one that's reviewing your contract?" Sarah asked.

"Sentinel Security? Still nothing yet. I reached out. They said their teams are still reviewing, and things take time to work through their organization. Want anything to drink?" Dan moved towards the kitchen, and Sarah followed closely behind.

"Just water would be great," Sarah said, casually checking out Dan's butt as he opened the fridge.

"Here you go," Dan handed a water bottle to her. "I hope something happens with them, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm still working on some other things. I had a call with another potential client today. They are a marketing agency, but they don't know what they want yet. It's too early to bring me in. Maybe I could get some kind of project guidance consultation from them, but I don't know. We'll see."

"How were they? Were they nice? Did they seem professional?" Sarah asked. She didn't want Dan to get involved with another company that would chew him up and spit him out.

"Yeah, they seemed okay. I talked with one of the guys before everyone else showed up. Bill was his name. He seemed nice, but something seemed to be distracting him on his end. Anyway, like I said, I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket. I'll keep working on..."

Dan trailed off, his eyes looking over Sarah's shoulder. She turned around to see Lester walk into the living room. Usually, she heard Lester before she saw him, his feet smacking off the hardwood floor--this time, she hadn't.

"Hey, Lester," Sarah smiled. Dan's roommate stopped short and stood there looking apprehensive.

"What's up?" Dan said, stepping up next to Sarah. You know the deal. There are no date nights on the first night."

"That's not why I'm here," Lester said, walking forward and leaning onto the couch with his arms crossed. I need a favor for tomorrow night."

"A favor?" Dan raised an eyebrow, "Alright, that's interesting. Let's hear it."

"Tomorrow's date night is going to be a little different," Lester said, eyeing Sarah. "You look great, by the way, Sarah."

Dan rolled his eyes. Sarah felt her face blush, "Thanks, Lester. The favor?"

"Right, well, I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm part of a D & D group," Lester opened his mouth to continue, but Dan cut him off.

"D and D? Is that some sort of sex thing?" Dan said.

"No, pretty far from a sex thing," Lester stared at him flatly. "D & D. Dungeons and Dragons. It's a role-playing game I play with some friends. Not on the computer but around a table. We each pick a character and progress through a campaign built by the DM, the dungeon master."

"You're right. It doesn't sound like a sex thing at all," Dan chuckled, "Sounds like something that people who have never had sex would play."

"You'd think that," Lester huffed, "But I do ok." The trollish man nodded at Sarah, looking directly at her nipples, which both men could see were obviously in an aroused state. Sarah smiled, happy that Lester wasn't escalating the situation like he could have.

Dan's face grew red, and Sarah could see one of the veins on his neck sticking out. Lester held up a pacifying hand as Sarah folded her arms to be on the same page with her husband. But she couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of excitement at Lester's words. Knowing that the two men were competing for her. "Lester's mentioned this game before...on one of our...dates."

"I didn't come for a fight. I wanted to say that tomorrow night, it's my turn to host our D&D game here. So the rest of my group, four other guys, will be here for a few hours to play."

"That sounds okay, Lester. What do you want from us? Do you want us to switch the date night to tonight so you can have your little game tomorrow?" Sarah felt herself growing wet, thinking Lester might take her ahead of schedule. She caught herself beginning to touch his arm, initiating contact that could become more intimate.

"No," Lester said before she could reach him. He stood up off the couch and looked at the couple. I want you both to play with us tomorrow. Jump into our campaign and role-play with us."

Dan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Lester, we've never played Dungeons and Dragons before. Why would you want us to play with you?"

"I really don't," Lester said, "It's honestly gonna suck with you guys."

"Then why are we having this conversation, Lester?" Dan said. Sarah could tell that his patience was wearing thin.

"Because," Lester said looking at Sarah. "I want Sarah to be there. To show her off in front of them. And remember, you've insisted on joining us on all of our dates."

"Lester, I don't know how to play. Couldn't I just parade myself around the apartment in front of your friends?" Sarah asked, looking to Dan for agreement.

"I want you there at the table next to me. They don't believe I could land a hot girlfriend so I want to rub it in their faces all night. They never met my ex, Lizzie, so they just assume I was lying about her. That I couldn't land someone as hot as you or her. I want you to tease them and make them squirm." Lester said.

Sarah thought back to how Lester had saved her ass at the hospital. She could do this one thing for him. Besides, it bugged her that these guys were giving him a hard time. Just like when that homeless man called him fat, or that stranger subtly insulted him. Even the way that people looked at them when they were out together. Hearing Lester mention Lizzie being as hot as here kind of pissed her off. She made up her mind she was going to do this and do it well.

"Tease them how?" Sarah eyed Lester.

"I wouldn't presume to tell you how to tease a group of men, Sarah," Lester licked his lips and smiled, "I'm sure you can think of a few ways to get under their skin."

Sarah looked to Dan for reassurance. He shrugged back, smiling, knowing full well how far her teasing could go. She was able to teasingly torture him with expert precision. Who knew what she could do to a group of people she wasn't in love with.

Lester's invitation to play made more sense now. This is the first time she would meet any guys from Lester's world. She was intrigued at the opportunity to learn more about him from other sources. "I'm game then." Sarah looked at Dan, "What do you say, Dan, should we get our nerd on?"

Dan sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine. Whatever. Maybe it'll be fun. So you're going to tell all these other guys that Sarah is your girlfriend? Have her tease them all night? What about me?"

"You can just be my roommate, Dan," Lester grinned. That's all." Dan took in this information dryly, his expression unchanged.