Short before noon, Richard suddenly hurried to the bathroom. Eve wished she could do something to help him fighting his excitement, but he needed to go through this on his own. 

In the next moment Nicole appeared. 

„Ready for lunch?“ she asked happily. 

„Um ya, sure. We just have to wait for Richard. He joins us,“ Eve answered. 

Nicole raised her eyebrows.

„How comes that?“ 

„Um… he forgot his lunch box,“ Eve lied. 

Nicole smiled. 

„He’s such a weirdo. But in a good way.“ 

„Ya, in a good way,“ Eve replied, smiling back at her.

Richard returned to his desk, being completely pale.

„Ready to go?“ Eve asked. 

He just nodded, trying very hard pulling himself together. 

It was 5:00 PM. The open space office was empty. Only Eve was still sitting there and making a presentation. When she finally finished, she sent the file to JC and switched off her laptop. Then she went into his office to say goodbye. 

„I just sent you the presentation,“ she said, seeing him staring at his screen. 

He looked terribly tensed. She had the impression something was not okay. 

„I noticed, thank you,“ he said, turning in her direction. „See you on Monday.“ 

„Is everything good?“ she asked, before leaving. 

JC put his glasses off to rub his eyes. Then he took a deep breath. 

„Eric screwed something up.“ 

Eve raised her eyebrows, being curious what this was about. 

„What happened?“

„I wanna invest into another sound studio. We have an appointment with the bank on Monday morning. Eric was responsible for the investment plan. But he just told me that his laptop fell into his pool and the only copy of the file was on it.“

„Oh shit. So, he has to do the whole work again?“ 

JC scoffed. 

„He’s in Greece this weekend and has no time taking care for it.“ 

„Greece?“ 

„Don’t ask.“ 

„Does it mean, he lets you alone with that problem?“ 

„He wants to reschedule the meeting. But we already did twice, because he was busy doing other stuff. I can’t ask for another appointment again. It would leave a bad impression.“ 

Eve looked at him for a moment, seeing his desperation. 

„Do you know how to make an investment plan?“ 

JC just stared at her, without responding. She knew in the meanwhile, that he wasn’t good with all the commercial stuff. That’s why he hired Eric. But Eric didn’t give a shit right now.

She went into his direction and sat down at the chair opposite of this desk. 

„I can help you with this.“ 

JC looked at her for a moment, before he replied. 

„You are already here for ten hours, Eve. I can’t expect this from you.“ 

„But this is an emergency.“ 

„Don’t you have better plans for Friday night?“ 

„Well, I planned going to a crowded, noisy club, just to end up drunk and alone on the backseat of a taxi, while my friend hooks up with just another superficial guy. I’m not saying making an investment plan is more thrilling, but it definitely makes more sense, don’t you think?“ 

JC smiled at her. It was a genuine bright smile and took Eve’s breath away. She felt hot and cold and the same time, staring at him with her mouth open.

„Oh.My.God…“ she was thinking. „His smile is beyond human…“

JC was a little irritated about her reaction. 

„You’re good?“ he asked carefully. 

Eve returned back to reality, clearing her throat. She smiled back and nodded. 

„Let’s get started.“

JC brought few folders from Eric’s office and put them at his desk. Eve wrote Sandra a text, telling her that she was working late. Then she switched on her laptop and grabbed a hairband and a glasses case out of her bag. JC sat down at his chair and watched her putting her long hair into a bun and her glasses on. Her nerdy look turned him terribly on. 

„How will you survive that night all alone with her?“ 

„So, you have glasses, hm…?“ he said. 

She glanced at him, before giving her attention back to her laptop. 

„I should wear them more often, but I don’t like them.“

„Why not?“ 

„They make me look stuffy.“

„They make you look hot as fuck,“ he was thinking. 

„We should start with a list of all capital equipment,“ JC said next. 

„No,“ Eve contradicted. „First of all we need to evaluate the current financial standing. Then we need to define what we wanna accomplish and determine how much risk we can take. Last but not least we need to establish a timeline.“

JC gave her a surprised look. Obviously she had some experience on that field.  

„Don’t you think they will ask questions how we gonna spend their money?“ he asked. 

„Of course, but they won’t ask for details. There’s nothing wrong being prepared and having a list of investment goods, but that’s not our priority right now.“

Time passed by quickly. After four hours they finished the first draft. JC was surprised how focused and efficient Eve was working. He let her be in charge, being aware of, that she was the one who knew better how to handle things. 

„I’m not happy with the timeline. We should redesign it,“ Eve finally said.

JC looked at the chart, thinking there was nothing wrong with it.

„It’s good.“

Eve shook her head, still focusing on the screen. 

„It’s too complicated. I need to rework it.“

JC cracked a smile. She was working for fourteen hours and still having enough energy left to complain about the design. 

„We should eat something,“ he suggested, after checking his wrist watch. 

Eve glanced at him, before putting a banana, crackers and sweets out of her bag.

„I meant real food.“ 

„This is real food.“ 

JC smiled again and grabbed his phone.

„You’re okay with Chinese?“ 

Eve just nodded, before giving her attention back to the draft. 

Twenty minutes later the delivery boy arrived at the entrance. JC saw him from distance and stood up to pick up the food. Then he returned into his office.

„Time for a break, come on,“ he said, pointing at the sofa. 

Eve needed to admit, that she was brutally hungry. She sat down at the sofa, while JC was sitting in the arm chair and putting the food on the coffee table. Eve put off her heels, stretched herself and grabbed her dish. 

„Mmmm, this is so good,“ she said with full mouth. 

„Talking about food… how was your lunch break?“ JC asked.

Eve smiled at him. She thought it was cute, that he was curious how things went between Richard and Nicole. 

„Poor Richy just ate a plain roll, being afraid of having an allergic shock,“ she chatted. 

JC smirked. 

„Did he talk?“ 

Eve smiled harder. 

„Not a single word.“

JC laughed. Eve was paralyzed in that moment, just staring at him in disbelief. 

„Jesus, he’s killing me…“ 

„Richard is a great guy. It’s a shame he’s not seeing his own worth,“ JC said next. 

Eve finished chewing.

„Funny you mentioned that, as you don’t see his worth, as well,“ she answered. 

JC raised his eyebrows. 

„What do you mean?“ 

„He works for you from the beginning and built up the whole network and infrastructure on his own. He’s responsible for your IT security and also manages the complete hardware. If he finds a better job somewhere else, you’ll be screwed.“ 

JC looked at her for a moment. In fact he never saw Richard’s position as that important. 

„What are you trying to say? he asked next. 

„I try to explain, that it’s risky relying on just one person on that field.“ 

„So, you think I should employ an additional IT guy?“ 

„Yes. And you should promote Richard. I think he deserves more appreciation. It would be great for his self esteem having more authority and being responsible for a co worker, don’t you think?“ 

Again JC looked at her, thinking about her suggestion. He needed to admit, that she made a good point. Then he nodded.

„Fine, I’ll think about it.“ 

„Good,“ Eve replied, smiling at him. 

„Um… let me organize something to drink,“ JC said next. 

Then he stood up and went into the kitchen. Eve finished her dish and yawned. She didn’t realize that it was almost 10:00 PM. Her eyes felt tired from staring at the screen the whole day. She leaned back and allowed herself closing her eyes for a short moment. It took just seconds for her to fall into a deep sleep.

JC realized, that he didn’t ask what Eve was liking to drink, as he reached the beverage dispenser. He returned to his office and saw her sleeping at the sofa. His bad conscience was giving him a hard time for letting her work such long hours. He stared at her for a moment and realized, that he never wanted someone so bad, as he wanted her. But he had not the tiniest idea how to deal with his feelings.

In the next moment Eve’s phone started ringing and brought him back to reality. She left it at his desk. JC expected she would wake up from the sound, but it wasn’t the case. He went to the desk and checked the display. 

„Sandy.“ He talked to himself, knowing this was her friend she used to see for clubbing tonight.

He stared at the phone for a short moment, thinking about, if to answer it or not. Finally he picked up.