Half-truths and the sympathy card.

Jan's eyes are piercing. It's as if she's looking right into your soul. Normally, you'd be so intimidated that you might fumble over your words or get overly flustered. The AMA provides you with an ever growing confidence.

You frown, "I'm not sure what you mean. Is this about stopping by the receptionist desk?"

Seemingly aware of her borderline inappropriate closeness to you, Jan leans back a bit and scoots her chair away from you.

"Among other things, Frank."

The red 28 above her head remains unchanged. Deep down, you know that Jan is the main obstacle to your ambitions here in the office. You notice the half empty iced coffee that you bought her sitting on Hana's desk. She must have sat it down there before interrogating you.

You smile back at your boss, "I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the drink."

"No sense in letting it go to waste, even if it is an obvious attempt at bribery."

You laugh, "Why would I need to bribe you?"

She crosses her arms and smirks, "I've dealt with men like you before. You know that I see right through you."

"Why don't you just tell me what exactly you think I'm up to, then."

"You go from trying to appear invisible every single day to openly flirting with female coworkers. Do you really think that I wont notice that?"

"Well, I'd call it trying to make friends."

She scoffs, "Yes, Frank, the old guy in the office is just innocently making friends with all of the attractive women in the office. Total coincidence."

She's onto you but you can't confirm it for her. Jan's Affection score is too bad.

"Well, I was just talking to Jeremy who is most definitely not an attractive woman. Maybe you only notice this when it's with someone that fits your framing. Yes, I'm trying to make friends with Hana. She's my desk mate. I see her all the time. Yes, I was trying to make friends with Faith. She's going to be the first person I see every morning when I get to work. You think that I'm manipulating them somehow?"

Jan examines you quietly for a moment.

"Yes, Frank, I do."

"I would never hurt Hana or anyone else here."

"I don't believe you."

You decide to change your strategy.

"Do you want me to be honest with you?"

"That would be a good start."

"Outside of work, my life is falling apart. I just found out that my wife is having an affair. My daughter, who will be leaving for college in a few months, barely acknowledges my existence."

Jan's face softens a tiny bit.

You continue, "Here at work, I'm stuck in a low paying entry level job. I can't afford my bills. My boss hates me and there's no room for advancement."

Your boss seems somewhat disarmed.

"Frank..."

You cut her off, "So, yes, I'm trying to improve my life. That includes coming out of my shell and building relationships with people. The alternative is going home every night and drinking myself into an early grave. Would you rather me do that?"

"No... of course not..."

You lean in close and whisper, "If by some miracle, Hana wants more than a friendship, I'd be a fool to turn her down. She's one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. Beautiful, kind, smart..."

Jan's eyes flicker and look away for a moment before focusing back on yours.

You continue in a hushed tone, "You're very protective of Hana for reasons that are none of my business. But, I see the way you look at her."

There's a hint of panic in Jan's eyes. Your boss opens her mouth to say something but turns her head to the side, attention caught by someone approaching.

Hana arrives, looking slightly disheveled, and sets her bag down next to her desk.

She looks at the two of you and then says, "Jan, I'm sorry that I'm late."

Jan waves her hand dismissively, "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Hana stands awkwardly, looking between the two of you. Jan seems to suddenly notice that she's in Hana's chair and gets up. She smiles at your desk mate and pushes the rolling chair in her direction.

Seeming flustered, Jan says, "Frank and I were just getting on the same page about something."

You reply, "I'm glad that we understand each other, Jan."

Your boss looks at you for a moment before nodding and taking her leave. The score above her head remains unchanged. Once she's gone, Hana looks at you and raises her eyebrows questioningly.

You sigh, "Jan was just interrogating me. She thinks that I'm a bad influence on you."

"Hmm... she is quite perceptive. Maybe she's right."

"We should talk about..."

Hana cuts you off, "Save it for lunch when there aren't prying eyes and ears."

The office is mostly full at this point. Several people sit close enough where they could overhear.

"Are you..."

"Mad at you? No."

You relax a bit. Hana turns to her desk and notices the iced coffee. Jan forgot to take it with her when she left in a rush.

She gestures to it, "Frank, this yours?"

"Ah, no. I got it for Jan this morning."

Hana smiles at you and takes a sip. You notice some of Jan's lipstick still on the straw.

"I guess it's mine now."

The two of you turn to your computers. Hana gets to work while you pull up the Affection Multiplier favorites page. You go ahead and add two new names to the list.

Frank Thompson's Favorite Relationships

Hana Sato

Affection Score: 90 (+1)

Love Score: 11

Lust Score: 7 (-2)

Jan Whetstone

Affection Score: -27 (+4)

Natalie Thompson

Affection Score: 22

Love Score: 38

Lust Score: 0

Ava Thompson

Affection Score: 89

Love Score: 21

Lust Score: 18

Grace Thompson

Affection Score: N/A

Faith Everett

Affection Score: 21 (+21)

Bellatrix Winters

Affection Score: 8 (+6)

Lust Score: 1 (+1)

Hana's lust score declining by two points causes you to frown. It's only now that you remember what the Affection Multiplier said about it fluctuating. You were just so used to steady progress with scores that seeing a change in the wrong direction caught you off guard a bit. You aren't worried, though.

Improvement with Jan has been so incredibly slow. Her negative score isn't only affecting your future prospects with her. It's also getting in the way of improvements with others. You resign yourself to the fact that every person is different. Some scores will be easy to raise. Some will be an enormous challenge.

Faith, the beautiful blonde with the most adorable accent you've ever heard, seems like one of the easier challenges. While her Affection score increased quickly, you wonder if her love and lust scores will react in a similar manner. Maybe some people will have a lot of variance between the rates at which their scores rise in each of the three categories.

The single lust point by Bellatrix's name brings a smile to your face. It wouldn't surprise you if she was a bit more on the sexual side than someone like Faith. The young woman practically radiates sexual energy. Or maybe you just imagined that.

Feeling stuck at your desk, you focus on your work to pass the time. You'd love to wander around the office and increase your scores with people but Jan's watchful eye would be on you. Also, you feel compelled to actually do your job. That will help with improving Jan's opinion of you maybe more than anything.

Time seems to move in slow motion as you work away. Would you be able to max Hana's affection score while at lunch? You'll want to stop by the receptionist desk as well. If you have time, it wouldn't hurt to check in with Jeremy and Bellatrix too.