Andy Keeps Trying - Chapter 03

ANDY KEEPS TRYING

Chapter 3: Andy stays single

“You should date David Crown! Hell, you should let him fuck your ass! Give him everything he wants; The man deserves it!”

Cody came into my room, jumping around naked, his fat dick bouncing against his thighs and stomach.

Damn, he ruined the sweet dream I was having.

Something about a hairy older man sucking my dick, deep and sloppy.

I had not slept that good in weeks!

“What's wrong with you?”

I rubbed my eyes as Cody jumped into my bed.

It was not the first time he had done this.

He did not give a fuck that I was naked under the sheets, and he cared even less about the fact that he was stark naked himself.

I have said it before and I will say it again: my roommate was not modest when it came to parading his cock around.

“Look at me!” He exclaimed happily.

"Huh?”

His need for exhibitionism was going a bit too far, but I did glance down at his junk.

Where else should I have looked? It was right there under my nose!

“Do you know what you're looking at, Andy?”

“An idiot in the buff, jumping around like a gorilla to keep his roommate from sleeping late?”

"Okay, fair enough, but you forgot something! An idiot with an architecture degree!"

I straightened up.

“What?”

“I passed! I actually passed!”

I smiled broadly and hugged him.

He smelt good, even before his shower.

In all fairness, I preferred the male scent when it was raw. A pure shot of testosterone in the morning.

“Congratulations, man!”

“It's partly thanks to you, really. Without the scholarship I’d still be working at the Impero trying to save money for next year.”

“Don't mention it, you worked hard for this.”

He kissed my cheek.

“Thank you, bro. Sincerely.”

“Damn, you've been so annoying though. I thought you blew it for the last few weeks! You had me stressed out.”

“I really thought so… I messed up in one of the required classes, but I guess I compensated with the rest.”

“Well, that’s great news. I’m really happy for you, man.”

Cody sat down on the bed a little more calmly.

“You want to know how I found out I passed?”

“You didn't just look online?”

“Before I did that, I got a congratulations text. From David Crown himself.”

I was perplexed.

“How?”

“People or organizations that endorsed a student for the scholarship also receive a notification when said student has passed. He must have been up very early this morning; I got a text from Crown at about 6:30 a.m.”

“What did he say exactly?”

“Don't be jealous, he wasn't hitting on me or anything.”

He winked at me.

“As if…”

“It was just a line to tell me that he never doubted I would make it. It was nice of him.”

Cody could not keep a smile off his face.

It was endearing.

“David’s right and you should stop doubting yourself too.”

“I’ll try. I’ll call my parents and I should call Laurie too. Unless that’s not appropriate… No, I should definitely call her.”

“I bet she'll be happy to know. She asked me how it went a couple weeks ago.”

“Really? What did she say exactly?”

“Don't be jealous, she didn't hit on me or anything.” I joked back.

He rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I'll just wait half an hour and call her.”

“Oh, so she gets the privilege of not being woken up at 7 a.m. Lucky her!”

“I couldn't wait to tell you the news!”

“I'm just kidding. I'm glad you did. So, what's the next step?”

“I thought I had failed my exams, so I didn't really start looking for a job, but I will find a company that will take me on for sure. I already have a few contacts I want to reach out to. Damn, Andy, it's real. I can be an architect! I’m gonna be an architect!”

He beamed with pride. I did too.

I felt a strange sense of relief and accomplishment, as if he was my own son or something.

I ruffled his already messy hair.

“You've been at it studying for what, six, seven years? That’s a huge milestone.”

“Yes… All my adult life.”

“Enjoy this moment, man! It’s rare.”

I kissed his cheek in response.

I think he felt my morning wood under the comforter as we moved around.

“You’re right. Okay, well, I have people to call and things to do. I'll pay for dinner tonight; you tell me what you want to eat and I’ll order us a feast or we can go outside!”

“Will do. Promise, I won’t leave the office too late.”

He stood up and shimmered his juicy butt out of my bedroom.

The good news kept me cheerful all day.

When I saw Laurie at work, Cody had already called her and she seemed happy as well.

“We have a drink planned for later this week.” She told me.

“Oh, Corie's back then!”

“Corie?”

“Your ship name. Or Laudy? Which one do you prefer? We discussed this already, right?”

“We might have… But wait, I’m realizing something. For you, it would have been Daddy!”

I thought about it.

“Oh yeah, David and Andy, that makes Dady.”

“I meant for Darius and Andy, but I guess that works too with David…”

Oops.

I had not told Laurie that David was still an option. Once again, I had spoken too soon.

Also, no, David was NOT an option. I had to print that somewhere to remind me.

“Yeah… I was just saying, I… I’m very much single anyway.”

“Please, don’t feel the need to justify yourself. Clearly, I’m in no capacity to give anyone relationship advice.”

“We’re all trying our best.”

She looked at her computer to check an email.

“Andy, I have a personal question for you.”

“I’m slightly concerned, but I’m listening.”

“It’s not that serious but… Do you think I'm turning into Rebecca?”

I burst out laughing.

“In what fucking way?”

“Like, do you think I've become an emotionless robot since I took this new position at work?”

“No offense, Laurie, but you’ll have to be a lot more fucked up than you currently are to get anywhere near Rebecca’s level.”

She smiled.

“That’s reassuring.”

“Why would you even say that?”

“I don't know… The way I acted with Cody. I wasn't like that when we met, burying myself in my work, thinking it was so important. I guess I felt appreciated and seen with the new projects I was given and…”

“…And you didn’t want to disappoint Rebecca. That’s how she gets us. She’s really good at that, making us turn into dedicated minions.”

“Yes. For the most part, I’m fine with that. I never thought I would be more than just an executive assistant- it’s exciting. But I do want to be careful not to turn into her.”

“I’ll check on you, okay? If you become a robot, I’ll let you know. And you’ll do the same for me.”

“It’s a deal.”

“We can admire Rebecca in some respects all the while being our own persons and not letting this job eat us alive.”

“You’re a wise man, Andrew White.”

“So, so wise…”

The rest of the day was rather uneventful.

I worked with Kendrick and Bradley on defining key points for Rebecca’s next rally— it was meant to be a big event, the first one since the shooting— and then, I had to review the analytics of a thousand surveys sent in the previous week.

It was a dull task and it took me the entire afternoon.

It was okay though, at least, I knew I was being useful.

Cody texted me about what I wanted to eat and I decided on Thai food.

I had not had a good Pad Thai in ages.

I left around 7 p.m. and the office was practically empty, except of course for Rebecca who was still locked in her office and Kendrick who was literally exploited by Thompson.

Robert Thompson had not changed.

He was the same prick he had always been, and he treated Kendrick like shit, giving him all the tedious tasks.

“Don’t stay too late, this is only the beginning of the primary campaign. We have six months to go; you have to save your energy to be present for the long run.”

I advised him.

“I know, there’s just a lot of information to process and I’m a bit behind. I’m fine though.”

“Been there. Don’t worry, in just a few weeks, you’ll feel much more comfortable with the environment.”

“I bet.”

Kendrick gave me a confident smile, or at the very least, a smile he attempted to look confident.

He had a beautiful set of straight white teeth, though.

He was originally from a smaller town in Pennsylvania.

Just like me, he had moved here for this job opportunity. He was definitely in for a wild ride.

I almost invited him for an afterwork drink.

To be clear, Kendrick was hot, but he was also very straight so there was no hidden purpose here.

I simply wanted to be as friendly with him as Laurie had been with me when I joined staff.

“You should come have lunch with Laurie and I one of these days, or we could have a drink sometime. I have a thing tonight but it’d be cool to do something outside of work.”

“Thanks, Andy. I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.”

“Nice. Enjoy your evening, Kendrick, see you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

I thought I was leaving, but I was in for a big surprise at the very last minute.

I called the elevator to the 26th floor. It came rather quickly, but it was not empty when the doors opened.

You may have guessed it already…

David Crown was here, appearing, as if out of nowhere!

His left arm was in a cast but other than that, he looked like his usual (God damn sexy) self.

He had let go of the formal shirt for a tighter black T-shirt (it was hot outside, even for early June), his hair was a bit longer, but his killer smile and piercing blue eyes had not changed one bit.

He seemed as surprised as I was to see me on the other side of the opening doors.

“Oh… Andy.”

“What are you doing here, are you…? I mean, hi.”

“Hi, Andy.”

“Are… Are you okay?”

It seemed as if stammering like a fool in front of David Crown was my middle name.

You know that already if you read the first book.

“I’m okay. I have a meeting with Rebecca.”

“I didn’t know. I… I mean, I didn’t have to know, I… Well, I was about to leave anyway.”

“Good for you, you’ve stopped working those crazy hours.”

A wild thought went through my mind.

Maybe David would hit on Kendrick later on when they would be all alone in the open space.

A jolt of jealousy ran through me.

“I do have something to celebrate tonight. As you know… Cody’s got his degree; he’s very grateful for your endorsement on his scholarship application by the way. It helped him so much.”

“He should be grateful to have a friend like you.”

David felt my arm. 

I chuckled nervously.

“How is your shoulder?”

“Much better. I’ll get rid of the annoying cast next week. This whole thing will just be a bad memory then.”

“I should have reached out to you sooner. I… I was worried but I knew that the surgery had gone well and… I… I didn’t want to linger.”

We were in the middle of the hallway, so it was far from being the best place to have this conversation.

I was not sure of what I wanted to say anyway.

“Don’t apologize, Andy. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Still, I’m relieved that you’re doing better. It’s good to see you standing up and looking…”

“Looking like what?”

I gulped.

“Looking good.”

“I won’t let a bullet stop me. I’m a strong dude.”

He winked at me and I shivered.

Why was I not dating him again? What were my reasonable reasons?

“You… You are.”

“How is work going? How is the campaign?”

Phew. Work matters. That was an easier topic of discussion. And, by the way, that was the reasonable reason!

“We’re still far behind Broadhall but we’re closing the gap if I believe the latest surveys I read this afternoon.”

“I’m not surprised. There’s no chance of Rebecca failing. It’s simply not an option for her.”

“I hope you’re right. What will you be doing now that you…”

Once again, I could not find the right words.

“Now that I had to withdraw from the running in disgrace? Ah. I’ll just go back to my job with city planning. Not the most exciting gig and I may not be staying there for too long but eh, it’ll give me time to think about my next move.”

“Politics?”

“Never!” He exclaimed with a laugh. “I’ve had enough.”

“I get that.”

He seemed to be eating me up with his gaze, from head to toes.

I was sure my cheeks were already red.

“And aside from work, how are you?” He asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

“I’m good.”

“It wasn’t too difficult to return to normal life after the rally?”

“I had trouble sleeping for a while. I still do at times. I started meeting with a group that gathers for coping with trauma on Friday nights.”

“That’s cool.”

“It’s the opposite of cool, but the woman running the meetings is great. I’ve also taken back swimming. I think it helps a lot. You seeing anyone?”

“What do you mean? Romantically or…”

“No. God, no. I meant like a shrink or a therapist.”

He smiled.

“The hospital put me in contact with a shrink after surgery. An old woman, she looked like a scary bat, she kept going on and on about how I had to go back to my past to handle the present trauma… It’s not really my thing.”

“Yeah… I do think therapy can help but I’m doing good on my own for now.”

“On your own?”

“Yes.”

He bit his lower lip.

“Are you seeing anyone? And I do mean romantically.”

David had his way of making me flustered, every damn time.

Down to the manner he spread his legs, it always felt like an invitation for me to get on my knees and unbuckle his belt.

Or maybe that was just my perverted mind talking.

“I’m single. I’m taking a break from relationships actually.”

“You’re not with your hunky cook anymore?”

He seemed way too happy about the news.

“No, Darius and I broke up.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Why was he smiling then?

To be fair, I was smiling too.

I was like a teenage girl in front of her crush. Ridiculous. I felt my heart beating faster in my chest, too.

“What about you?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Are you seeing anyone, romantically?” I asked, a little more upfront.

His grin only grew wider.

“Well, you already know.”

“Do I?”

“I’m waiting for you.”

And there again, I was floored.

I stammered like an idiot: “I… I…” when a door opened behind us.

Rebecca came out of her office.

If David knew how to turn me on in a second, his future ex-wife had her way of killing the mood just as fast.

I could not be mad though.

She had saved me from this one, because I had no fucking idea how I was supposed to respond to that.

He was waiting for me. This felt real. I could just go for it? Should I? Did I really want that?

“Oh, David, you’re here.” Rebecca then looked at me. “White.”

“I was just leaving.”

David shook Rebecca’s hand.

That was weird as fuck.

“Andy was telling me that your numbers are going up. Good job, Rebecca. Not that it’s surprising.”

“We still have a lot to do before November.”

“And I bet you’re on top of it.”

“Are you ready for our meeting?”

“Sure.”

David looked back at me; he extended his right hand (from his uninjured arm). I shook it.

The whole interaction was very awkward.

“Have a good evening, Andy, tell Cody again that I congratulate him for his success.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“His success?” Rebecca asked.

“Cody just earned his architecture degree.”

“Good for him. David? Shall we start?”

“Sure, sure. Bye, Andy.”

He disappeared in Rebecca’s office and I thought about the promise I had made to myself about staying out of trouble.

A second thought came to mind…

What’s life really about without a bit of trouble?

No— I would stay in my lane. Single life was good for me.

There was an uncontrollable smirk on my face as I entered the elevator.