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Michael
Try number five got me far closer than my first four, but close enough wasn’t going to get me an A or even a passing grade on my assignment. More importantly, it wouldn’t get me the skills I needed to get out of here and start living the life I wanted.
“Is this seat taken?”
I knew the room was filling and seats were scarce, but I didn’t have to look up to know that the man behind the voice wanted more than a seat. I just needed to focus on my task at hand and call it good. If it had been one of the locals I was constantly pestered by, I probably would have let out the growl building in me, but the voice was new and sounded very unlike the people from around here. If I were to guess, the voice belonged to someone from the East Coast.
“Not interested.” I kept my tone calm and nonchalant. I didn’t want to be rude, especially if he was one of the people here for Ms. Betsy.
“I’m Porter.” A hand reached in front of me, pointing to a line of code on my screen. Left hand—no ring. Why was I even looking? I wasn’t interested, except that motion caught my attention and I kind of was. “It looks like this is the line you need to change. You’re just reassigning the original value instead of passing the new one back.”
Crap on a cracker, how had I not seen that? Of course it was. So simple, and yet after hours of my time had been sucked away looking for it, he came out of nowhere and, with one quick glance, solved my problem.
I peered up, catching his green eyes with mine. He was definitely not from around here. I’d have recognized him if he were.
“Thanks. I have been working on this for far too long, and it was so simple.”
“Sometimes you need another set of eyes.” He shrugged, breaking our eye contact and allowing me to take in the entire person before me for the first time. His face was clean-shaven but his smooth cheeks highlighted his dimples. I was normally a stubble-to-short-beard guy, but dimples were my Achilles’ heel. A smile spread across his face. Darn, he’d caught me ogling him. Oh well. It wasn’t like I’d ever see him again. “I’m Porter,” he offered once more.
“Sorry I was so rude before.” Truth be told, if he hadn’t looked over my shoulder, I’d have been staring at that screen unsuccessfully for hours. My superhero. “I was trying to get this done and… I was just rude.” There was no excuse for it. Might as well be blunt. He smirked, his hand still reached out, ready for a shake because, being socially awesome, I forgot to actually give him my name. “I’m Michael.”
“No need to apologize.” We shook, warmth spreading up my fingers, our hands slowly lowering to the table. “May I?” He glanced down at our joined hands as if his question was too vague for me to piece together. A slight reddening of his cheeks had me hopeful I had put it there. That I somehow was affecting him as much as he was affecting me. There was just…something about him.
It wasn’t even his flashy clothes or muscular shoulders that even his suit couldn’t hide. It was something more. There was kindness in his eyes, as well as a strong spirit. Part of me wished he was here permanently so I could get to know him. Of course, that would mean saying goodbye once my job prospects increased, so neither was ideal. Maybe a one-and-done was the way to go. It wasn’t like I could get too attached to him in one night. Right? My heart knew the answer was in the negative, but at that point I could hardly care. His thumb traced small circles on my hand and that had far more of my body responding.
“Since you’re my knight in shining armor for the evening, I insist.”
He smiled at my response.
“Are you here for Ms. Betsy?”
“I am.” His grin faltered. I should’ve known better than to bring up sadness. “You’re not.” He wasn’t asking. Probably because I was dressed in comfy clothes, something no one would wear to a funeral.
“I never had the pleasure of meeting her. I’m pretty new here,” I offered lamely.
“I thought people only left,” he mused with a slight tightening of his grip. Not that I needed a squeeze. Every subtle movement by one of his fingers or his wrist drew my attention away from all else.
“That would be my goal as well.” I tried to keep a teasing intonation to avoid sounding like a whiner. It must have worked because he gave a nod of understanding paired with a smile that could charm just about anyone.
“That explains the coding in a bar on a Friday night.”
“That would be more my brother and his husband are having a date night at home, and I didn’t want to be in the way.” The sad state of my life in a nutshell. Hiding in a bar because I had no place to truly call mine.
“I’m glad they are.” He winked. It should have been cheesy and over-the-top in this day and age, but on him? On him, it worked.
“I kind of am, too.” Or was gladder than anything. Potato, potahto.
“Ready to put your order in?” Jackie appeared out of nowhere. Probably to glean tips, but that was fine. I was hungry.
“Sure.” I didn’t need to tell her what I wanted. My order was always the same. “You want anything, Porter?” I tilted my head his way. Jackie had been talking directly to me but staring at him, probably more interested in what was in his wallet than his looks, but given his hotness, his looks certainly didn’t hurt.
“Yes, thank you,” he answered me before turning to Jackie and placing his order. “Burger, medium, with fries.”
“That comes with mayo, lettuce, and tomato.”
“Sounds perfect.” He nodded in a subtle sign of dismissal.
“It’ll be up in five,” she called over her shoulder, taking his hint and moving off.
