Lars Granberg, average guy in a cubicle

"Reports by 3PM, Lars, no later."

You hadn't even looked up from your computer as your supervisor talked away at you from behind your back. Answering one email, responding to an IM, nodding absent-mindedly to your boss, all these people were asking for your time such that you'd not actually been able to do any actual work. But when you needed something from them in return, like stats on the latest program release, you got nothing. "Sure, 3PM. I just have to get this email to Joseph, he says it's important."

"Oh yeah, he's gotta get his stuff done today too, but you know he doesn't know the subroutine libraries like you do. Get him straightened out, but also I need those reports for the presentation tomorrow." You again nodded in confirmation, just so your supervisor would wander off to pester someone else for ten minutes. You knew that none of the reports would make it into tomorrow's presentation, they never did. It was just busy work, so then your supervisor looked over-prepared, to impress upper management. And all of it kept you from doing the actual stuff on your task list with actual deadlines too!

You rubbed your head, further messing up your already messy blond hair. You were in **** need of a haircut, and possibly a shave at that, to get back to that professional appearance you would need for your upcoming promotion evaluation. The first day after a haircut, you would be clean-shaven, hair parted neatly to the side, you might even wear a nice button-up shirt for a while to look like a professional! Six months later, you look like you'd been lost at sea, with your hair in your eyes and quite the messy beard. If not for the bags under your eyes and the gut you were starting to develop sitting around all day at the computer, maybe you could make that work. It would be a good look for a wizard or barbarian next time you went to the Renaissance Faire, maybe.

"Hey, uh, Lars?" A familiar voice sang to you from behind, and you spun around instantly, not typing on another key as your full attention turned toward the lovely Olivia. The blonde neck-length hair mesmerized you, as did her gorgeous smile right below her sea-blue eyes. Her office attire kept much of her body secreted away from you, but you knew that despite her being a little on the short side, she had incredible legs and hips under that skirt, and an equally divine shape to her bust somewhere under that blouse. Olivia could easily be in any profession where she could take advantage of her beauty, but here she was in simple clothes and modest makeup, working on marketing slides for the products shipped by Innogard Inc, the cyber-security company you both worked for.

"Yeah, Liv? What do you need?"

If Olivia realized how much you captivated her with the siren's call of her voice, she seemed good at pretending that she was completely unaware. "I'm having problems with the printer again, can you help?"

You nodded, and stumbled out of your chair like a fool, following her back to her desk. She didn't once say anything about how your hair looked like you just woke up after you'd messed it up so much, she just kept smiling politely as she sat back down in her seat. "It's saying it's printing, but the machine isn't doing anything. I must've tried about ten times..."

You leaned in close, sniffing the sweet, flowery scent that she wore. Everything about Olivia was intoxicating, and it took immense willpower to form complete sentences around her. Your eyes glanced at her face as she stared at her computer, soaking in her adorable features... and then reality hit you quickly, just in time for you to turn back to look at her computer screen before she started asking questions.

After you glanced at her settings, the problem was obvious. You'd told her about this issue probably three other times on previous occasions, but something about it never seemed to sink in. Still, you were plenty patient with Liv. "Here you go, you selected printer PRT-2F-26, not PRT-26F-2. It's kind of backwards, but they do the floor number and then the building number. So, someone's getting your marketing slides over in building 26 right now."

Liv blinked, and then gave you a quick hug. "My hero! Thanks Lars."

A hug! That was a first. You stood up in a daze, almost walking robotically out of her cubicle to reflect on what just transpired. Maybe you should say something, office romances weren't forbidden, but...

"Hey!" Liv said, behind your back. "I was wondering about dinner tonight."

"Oh, sure, I'd--" you started, turning back around to see that Olivia was on the phone with someone else. She'd already forgotten you existed, once your usefulness had ended. How were you ever going to convince her that you were more than just her personal tech support?

Upon reaching your desk again, you slumped in your seat, before turning to check your phone. A missed call? How was it that people always managed to call right at the moment you were busy with something? It never ends. You tapped the voicemail button, and listened to the recording.

"Hello, this is Alice Kensington, calling on behalf of King Enterprises. We're reaching out to you, Mr. Granberg, in the hopes that you'll provide us some assistance with a trial for one of our new projects. This is highly classified, so I cannot provide more details without an NDA, but if you're interested it won't impact your job during the first round of the trial, and we can discuss further steps afterward. If interested, just send me a text back and I'll give you a time to come by King Estate. Know that Ms. King is very keen on getting this project underway and suitable candidates are slim, so we have high hopes that you'll be interested in cooperating."

A trial? How odd, what sort of mailing list did your parents accidentally sign you up for this time? It's bad enough that you shared a name with your dad, and he would almost always sign up for scams or malicious websites. When you checked the phone number, though, you saw a real record for an A. Kensington, and this Alice person appeared on the website for King Enterprises. It might actually be legit, and you might meet a billionaire in the process!

...But still. You wondered if you should even reply at all, or just ignore the message.