*note: A little fantasy about a human system administrator at a company hiring a new canine-human hybrid for marketing.
*
Okay, I admit, I thought she was cute as a button too and sometimes damned sexy, but I didn't let myself act like a tomcat in heat like some of the others did.
Teena got hired by the boss lady upstairs because she was really good at marketing. And the company needed someone like her to increase our revenue to stay afloat in these meager times.
I think part of her success is that she's hybrid. Part of her genes is canine and it shows in her yellowish eyes, almost black attentive ears and black, lush tail while the rest of her is all woman. Human, that is. And with a majority of the male population having a thing for animal ears and tails, even if they won't admit it, she gets plenty of attention.
Even I noticed it, goiing around the building in my job as the IT guy. From the first day she started here a lot more men visited who usually hardly ever came around here. Some delivered mail or packages that would normally have to be picked up downstairs. Some suddenly paid more attention to their hair, the mess on their desks or the print on their colourful shirts. Hell, even the most stubborn user in the company came by personally for a new mouse when he always insists he has no time to come to me when he needs paper for his printer. If that wasn't an obvious excuse to pass the room where she worked I'll eat my shorts.
There were other women here but either they lacked the right charm or were already married, so she was singled out to be the new centre of attention for the men. I just laughed at their foolish behavior in my mind. Although I had one advantage..
I was the one who set up her account for her, assisted her with the basic organisation of the data on the network, details on the programs she used and thus spend a good part of the first day together with her. I still snicker at the jealous remarks some of the guys gave me afterwards. I also liked her scent. It makes me feel warm inside remembering it.
So, I wasn't completely unaffected by her presence, but I remained calm and kept a friendly business relation with her.
The others kinda drooled over her, no matter how little or how much animal genes they had. They hid it best they could, but it showed.
Not for long though.
***
'Taku? Do you have a moment?'
I looked past a computer monitor at Teena. 'For?'
'I'd like to discuss a change to the website.'
I looked back at the error message at one of the computers. I had to look it up but I suspected I needed to upgrade one of the packages of our administrative software.
'Come by in half an hour. I've got to fix this first.'
'Okay.'
'This can wait.' said Menno, the sales guy and user of this computer.
I figured he wanted to get on her good side by sacrificing his time for hers.
'It can't.' I said and stood up. 'I'd better fix this or it might become a bigger mess.' I exaggerated. 'Coffee's on you.' I told Teena as I passed her desk.
'Yessir.' she joked back and I could sense the looks of a few guys next to me.
***
I had finished upgrading part of the system to get it running smoothly again and took a few minutes to check the latest news when mister Fisker popped his head around the doorway.
'I hear you're discussing changes to the website with miss Summers. Don't take up too much of her time because she has a new campaign idea to finish.' he said and walked off again.
I didn't like him much anyway, but I felt like deleting the important budget calculations from his computer to finally get him to store those on the fileserver where they belonged.
'You're just jealous I get to spend some alone time with a very cute woman.' I said to my monitor, scrolling further down the news page.
The gentle knock on my door pulled me out of my thoughts.
'The coffee?' Teena said, holding up two cups.
I smiled. 'Thanks.'
She put them down on my desk while I reached back to pull a chair closer for her, wondering if she might have heard me talking to myself.
'Thanks.' she said as she sat down. 'Did you manage to fix Menno's problem?'
'Yeah, it was nothing serious.' I said and pulled up the website on my left monitor, feeling relieved she hadn't heard what I said.
'I was thinking of moving this part of the site to..' she started and we discussed her ideas and the changes I'd have to make to the site. She knew some of the technical details so it was always a pleasure to talk to her. She also asked for my advise when it came to software that might help her do her job and possible upgrades.
'All right.' she said leaning back into the chair after settling on the changes and the proposal for the boss.
She stretched her legs, planted her feet on my desk, then looked at me. 'Oops! I let myself go.'
I laughed at her blushing face and shook my head. 'Feel free to get comfortable here. Sometimes I take off my shoes and spend the day on my socks.'
'That would be so nice if I could do that.' She said massaging her anckles. 'Spending all day in pumps is killer.'
'Find excuses to come here. I won't mind if you wanted to kick them off here for a while.'
She laughed. 'I might just have to do that.'
The suggestion wasn't entirely for fun, I had to admit. I liked her voice and scent and her firm legs looked fine to me.
'Ah, time to go. I've got to call the ad agency.' she said noticing the time. 'I'll let you know if the boss approves.'
'Okay.'
When she had left I pushed her chair back behind me, feeling the warmth of her body linger for a moment in the seat.
"Ah, we're just friendly." I thought and returned to reading the rest of the news.
***
The next weeks were uneventful. The proposal was approved and I made the changes to the website which she checked. Together with subtle changes to the company logos and stationary, and presence at industry meetings there was enough of a rise in business for the boss to pay for an evening out for everyone and significant others. An evening which marked a change in the mood at work.
You see, Teena never talked much about her personal life and had no photo on her desk like most had. Nobody asked but most expected her to be single, spending a lot of time on work. So when she walked into the restaurant with a handsome man sporting eyes like hers, the friendly coworkers suddenly had mixed feelings. Some disappointment, a little bit of jealousy, a touch of admiration. The admiration coming mostly from the women and the couple of men who were into tall, handsome, dark hair.
She introduced Franz to the people in her office first, then the group of women and then the group of people I was with.
I shook his hand. 'Nice to meet you.'
'Taku does all the IT work and helps me out on that side.'
'Good to meet you. She has mentioned you before.'
'I refuse to say anything further without my lawyer present.' I said and got a laugh out of them.
We talked a little more before sitting down to dinner and spend a nice evening eating and drinking before retiring for the weekend.
***
From that monday on I noticed the heat had died down mostly. Everyone was still friendly, but the hunters had given up on their prey. The guys were a little less pushy in getting on her good side, the office got less visitors and I got the idea things became a little more efficient as well.
Oh yeah, the stubborn guy from downstairs told me he had no time to pick up the paper for the printer so if I could bring it that would be nice.
I understood how they felt, but was glad things got settled down, and I didn't want to change just because she had a serious boyfriend, so we got along just as we've done before. I even suspected she felt more relaxed with the decrease in attention. Whenever she had a chance to meet with me to talk about plans related to IT she came over and always took off her shoes.
The company continued into the positive direction so when a holiday on a wednesday came up the mood was cheerful.
I was just talking with the boss about taking the chance to do some maintenance that day when Teena joined us.
'Good idea.' she said when she heard about my plans. 'I wanted to run through some ideas and doing it here would be best. I wouldn't mind not being completely alone here.'