“This should help you last until tonight,” she states. Then she looks down at my hard-on and grins. “Good luck getting rid of that.”
Then she’s off, leaving nothing behind but a raging erection, frustrated needs, and a lingering aroma of jasmine.
I don’t care if it’s in my room or hers, but I’m fucking her through a mattress tonight.
“Alright. I have one room with twin beds for Brian and Steven, in case you two need to work on your presentation, rehearse, or prepare.”
We’re all gathered in the hotel hall after our ride from the airport, and I’m handing out the keycards. The sun is shining outside, the weather is warm, and I can tell they’re all overjoyed to be here.
Once they have their cards, I hand the next ones to Oli, Mace, and Joseph. “This one has two twins and a queen for you three.”
“Dibs on the queen,” Mason quickly chimes.
“As if there would be any confusion,” Oliver jokes.
This is a professional trip, so childishness should be kept to a minimum. Finally, I give the last one to Andrea. “You have a single room with a queen bed.”
“And what size is your bed, then?” Her question is innocent enough to not raise suspicions. But we both know why she’s asking.
“King-size,” I answer, eyes planted on hers.
Heat dances behind her irises, and I guess I have my answer. I’ll be fucking her throughmy room’s mattress later today. Especially since hers is on the same floor as three of her colleagues while mine is isolated from everyone we know, a few floors up.
They all get fifteen minutes to freshen up, and then we gather again in the hotel’s lobby. This time, I hand them their badges, and we’re off. The convention center is a ten-minute walk from the hotel, so we’re on foot. When we arrive, I barely look at the space and the stands. I’ve been coming here every year for over a decade, so it’s lost its charm. I observe Andrea, though, and the way she marvels at everything. She looks thrilled to be here, and it warms me from within. She’s the reason for this change of plan, after all.
“Everyone,” I call, demanding my employees’ attention. “Some ground rules before I let you run around like kindergarteners. Don’t go near Avoss, or they’ll try to poach you. It’s happened in the past.”
I check my watch and look back at my team. “The day ends in a little over five hours. Keep the receipts if you get food or drinks so Beatrix can reimburse you. Alcohol is on you, and keep it light. I will not have Kelex’s image tarnished because you can’t control yourselves. We will all meet back here after the last conference ends. Warn me if you leave before that.”
They nod impatiently, ready to explore the stands, energized like overcharged batteries. With a wave of my hand, I set them free. Brian, Steven, and Joseph immediately walk away together while Oliver and Mason encourage Andrea to follow them. She gives me a sheepish look and takes off with the duo, leaving me alone.
I know we need to be discreet, but this isn’t how I envisioned today to unfold. We were robbed of our plane ride together, and now this…
With a disapproving mumble to myself, I make my way to one of the smaller rooms, where it isn’t as crowded and noisy. If I don’t get to spend time with Andrea, there’s no point in exposing myself toso much stimuli.
This place is incredible, and I can’t get over the fact that I’m finally here. Hanging from the high ceiling, some banners and installations show the location of the biggest companies, like Google, Facebook, Avoss, Blizzard, Microsoft, Apple… Every single tech giant is here. The immense hall is divided into booths of various sizes, and the companies range from international tycoons to family-sized businesses. Some develop dozens of apps per year, while others only have one software program.
A few stands offer games or tests, and we stop in front of one that challenges the passers-by to code a game of snake. Mace, Oli, and I take three of the available computers, and when we’re ready, they set off a timer. It’s like some thrilling race, the surrounding people cheering us on. Oliver finishes first, me second, and Mason third. It turns out Oli forgot that the snake dies when touching itself, so he’s disqualified. I’m crowned champion of the round, and I happen to be their best score today. I have no illusion I’ll be dethroned soon enough, but it feels good.
When Lex finds all six of us, we’re all settled in the Avoss lounge, too curious not to venture there. This company is an impressive conglomerate, almost as big as Google, dabbling in almost everything online. Both a search engine and a social network, they are everywhere. They’re also the fastest-growing internet tycoon, and working for them is every programmer’s dream, mine included. Or at least, it was before my incredible position at Kelex.
Lex gives us an irked glare, shakes his head, and joins us. We’re talking to someone ranking relatively high in the company, and when he sees Lex arrive, he stands up.
“Alexander! It’s been a while,” the man says, extending his hand.
“Hugh.” Lex shakes the man’s hand, visibly squeezing it harder than necessary. “Last time was when you took Gregory from us.”
The name Gregory rings a bell, and I try to remember why.
Oh! Right! Gregory is the former employee the guys suspect to be Nammota. Oli mentioned how the timeline of his departure matched the high scores appearing in theDonkey Konggame. So, Nammota is possibly working for Avoss now? It makes sense.
“It’s a nice herd you’ve got here,” Hugh says while turning our way, ignoring Lex’s animosity. “Is this your programming team?”
“Yes, the company has been doing very well,” Lex answers. “Mason has been with us for about three years. He’s particularly good with visual programming. Brian is our C and Java expert. He joined us about two years ago. Our last recruit is Andrea. She dabbles in everything, particularly Python, and we’re currently working on an app we bought from her.” I can hear the pride in his voice as he introduces his A-team like this. Clearly, we aren’t as big as Avoss, but we’re the shit.
“Oh, really? What does this app do?” Hugh asks, turning to me.
“Hm, it’s… um…” I hesitate, unsure of what I’m allowed to say.
