Falling Into You (Geek to Chic) (9 page)

Roni knew she
was already insecure about relationships.
 
After all the few long term relationships she had in the past had ended
badly.
 
Most guys loved the way she
looked.
 
Long blonde hair, big boobs tiny
waist, every red blooded man’s dream.
 
It
was her personality they seemed to be put off by.
 
For most guys she was too outgoing and
nice.
 
Yes, she had actually been dumped
because she was “too nice to the world at large.”
 
That particular boyfriend didn’t like the
fact that he did not have 100% of her attention at all times.
 

Most, however
just could not deal with her constant state of injury.
 
At first they all thought it was
endearing.
 
Some even said it made her
“approachable”.
 
Then they learned the
extent of her mishaps.
 
After a few weeks
of being a clumsy mess in front of their friends and colleagues, the usual
conversation happened.
 
They would start
by saying they were on a certain trajectory in regards to their career.
 
They needed a woman that could attend
cocktail hours and business dinners, heck, even family functions without
risking an “incident.”

 
‘Incident’ became the code word for her many
injury inducing mishaps.
 
One time she
had wavered on her heels while walking into a cocktail hour. Falling into a
waiter carrying a large tray of champagne.
 
The glasses fell, the waiter cursed, and her dress was ruined.
 
Did her date come running over to ask if she
was ok?
 
Did he take her home so she
could get out of the now very wet dress?
 
No to both.
 
Instead, he came over
asked what she had done.
 
Telling her
that she had ruined the night with the partners.
 
He then encountered her to the front door,
and told her to get a cab home.
 
That was
the last of him.
 
Many dates had ended
with her being tucked into cab never to see the man again.
 

She worried
that with Derek’s high profile as the CEO of CP Security Technology, that he
too would join that list of men.
 
With
that thought, she increased her speed.
 
She thought long and hard about everything she being a clumsy mess had
done to him.
 
He did not seem angry, well
for the most part, rather amused.
 
Or
more accurately relieved at her mishaps.
 
He took care to see that she was alright.
 
Laughed her off when she almost broke his
nose or latte bombed his laptop.
 
Derek
acted as though everyone had these types of things happen to them.
 
He teased her about them, but all her friends
did.
 
Maybe he was going to be the first
man not to be embarrassed by her.
 

She slowed the
treadmill to a medium jog.
 
Roni thought
maybe, just maybe she had met the one man who would not run screaming the other
direction when she tripped over nothing and her plate of food landed on the
expensive blouse of the wife of some investor.
 
Which had only happened once to her, ok maybe twice.

 
Roni felt better about Derek excepting her
clumsiness.
 
Now she had to tackle the
second issue that was swirling around her mind.
 
Derek’s work habits. She knew that she herself could get tunnel vision when
it came to an important project.
 
However, Derek’s tunnel vision seemed to be over every small detail at
work.
 
She knew from their earlier
conversation that once an idea popped into his head, he was determined to see
it through to the end.
 
Without interruptions.
 
His dedication was incredible.
 
A characteristic she admired in him.
 
It was also a characteristic that scared
her.
 
She wondered if this relationship
became serious if she would feel as though his work was his mistress.
 
Roni looked down at the readout on the
treadmill to see she had run 7 miles.
 
She realized that this was not a problem, she could find the answer to
one run.
 
She slowed her pace to a walk
to cool down, then turned the machine off.
 

She was making
her way to her car when her phone chirped indicating a text.
 
She unlocked the screen to read the text.

Derek: Thoughts of you are distracting me
from my work
J

She giggled,
realizing that her earlier internal tirade was obviously premature and
overblown. She thought for a minute, then sent a text back.

Roni: Glad to her that I am not the only one
distracted today.
 

Derek:
 
And who has you distracted?

Roni:
 
My new boss, he is really hot for a geek.

Derek:
 
He must be something to have someone as gorgeous and funny as you
distracted.
 

Roni:
 
He is.
 
Even my attempts to cause
him bodily harm have not dissuaded his interest.
 

Derek:
 
LOL your attempts may intrigue him since you are so perfect in every
other way.
 

Roni:
 
Hmmm, maybe he is just scared I will snap and finally do him in with a
chopstick or something.
 

Derek:
 
No, he is definitely intriguing.
 

Roni:
 
Good to know.

Derek:
 
What are you doing?

Roni:
 
Just finished my run.
 
How is
work?
 

Derek: Good, getting stuff done.
 

Roni:
 
Did you eat?

Derek:
 
If I say no are you going to punish me?

Roni:
 
LOL no I think you would enjoy a good old fashion punishment.
 
You need to eat.
 
I can bring you something.

Derek: I most definitely need a punishment
(I would love to see you, but I need to focus.
 
I will order something, I promise.

Roni could not
help the disappointment she felt over not being able to see him.
 
That feeling that his work would always come
first crept up the back of her brain again.
 
She chooses to ignore it, for now.
 

Roni:
 
Well, you better order something and promise you will sleep.
 
Even geniuses need rest.
 

Derek:
 
Promise I will get a few hours.
 
I
better get back to work.
 
I will text you
later.
 

Roni:
 
Ok, I am holding you to that promise.
 
Have a good day with your computers.
 

With that she
knew he was already back in the zone.
 
She sighed and continued on to her car, heading home to clean up.
 
Even though part of her wanted to turn around
and do another seven miles.
 
Running was
the only sport she could do without hurting herself or others.
 
It also had the added benefit that a run
calmed her, put her life into focus.
 
Obviously Derek didn’t need to run a marathon to focus, he only needed
his brain and a computer.
 

Derek’s
fingers flew over the keys.
 
All four of
his monitors lit up as his latest creation came to life.
 
Some people worked with paints or clay, Derek
worked in code.
 
His art was never
pretty, instead it was functional.
 
Offering people security and safekeeping their secrets.

 
His art would never be seen in museums judged
by acclaimed critics.
 
Rather, his art
would be tested by hackers.
 
Even though
his art was code, he was still akin to a temperamental artist. Like many of the
great artists over time, he would lock himself away for days on end.
 
Focused solely on the task at hand.
 
Typing and retyping in order to get the art
to work correctly.
 
He could lose himself
to a computer for hours without realizing the amount of time that passed.
 

If it was not
for people in his life, like his sister and Alex, forcing him (sometimes
physically) to leave his office he would surely wither away in this room.
 
Computers made sense to him. He could control
the outcome.
 
People, well people never
made sense to him.
 
It wasn’t that he
hadn’t tried to be social.
 
It was that
most people did not accept him in all his nerd glory.
 
He was not good at sports, nor did he enjoy
watching them.
 
He did not read books,
beyond those published in the tech world.
 
The only part of pop culture, he could relate to was a handful of TV shows.
 
Most of which were all geeky and only had a
select audience. All of these traits left him with little to talk to others
about.
 

He had made
the best of the small world he lived within.
 
Now his world was tilting, more light being let in.
 
Roni was the reason behind that.
 
He had watched her, listened to her speak to
others, inhaled her scent because that was all he could do.
 
Now he knew her.
 
Had her in his arms.
 

He laughed
every time he thought of how they had met and how amazing it was that the two
of them had made it through the last few days alive.
 
Her clumsiness was a power to be reckoned
with.
  
Of course Derek had been witness
to her small mishaps here and there in Starbucks.
 
A few spilled tears, one small fall outside.
 
Although those mishaps drew him to her more,
they did not prepare him for the sheer magnitude of her clumsiness.
 
Maybe it was really a super power like Alex
and she had joked.
 
Derek laughed to
himself and turned up his music.
 

Several hours
passed, Derek’s iPhone beeps startling him out of his hyper focus.
 
He looked up to see that it was almost eleven
at night.
  
Crap last time he looked at
the clock it was barely three in the afternoon.
 
He had meant to text Roni much earlier.
 
He grabbed his phone, opening the lock screen to view his texts.
 

Roni: Good night tech mogul.
 
Remember your promise to me.

Derek smiled,
now how was he going to get around this promise.
 
He knew that sleep would elude him even if he
tried.
 
His brain was far too engrossed
in his work to simply stop.
 
He also knew
she would never understand if he told her that once he started a masterpiece,
aka a new code, he had to finish at least the skeleton before he took a
break.
 
He was hours and hours from even
that point.
 

Derek:
 
Of course I remember and I still promise to sleep a few hours this
weekend… at some point.
 

Roni: Not to sound like your mommy here, but
you need to eat and sleep to be productive.

Again, how did
he explain that for most people that statement was true, just not for him?
 
He could go days with little or no sleep.
Living off of Dr. Pepper.
 
He knew he should
just cave and give her what she wanted.
 
After all what she wanted was for him to take care of himself.
 

Derek:
 
Online right now ordering pizza and I will sleep for a few hours after
that.
 
Does that complete my promise to
you?

Roni:
 
I believe it does
J

Derek:
 
How was your day?

Roni:
 
Boring, cleaned the house.
 

Derek:
 
Please tell me you were careful with your hand.

Roni:
 
LOL you know I tried to be careful.
 
Being careful doesn’t always end well for me.

Derek laughed,
knowing that was the truth.
 
He paused
mid laugh, wondering if that meant she had injured herself in the process of
cleaning the house.
 
Briefly, he thought
maybe he should close up shop for the day and go take care of her, she could
have really injured herself after all.
 

Derek:
 
You didn’t add an injury to the list did you?

Roni:
 
Depends what do you define as an injury?

Derek:
 
I’ll take that as a yes.
 
Now what
damage was done?

Roni:
 
Only a bruised hip from running into the table, a small bump on my head
from banging into the cabinet as I put dishes away and a possible broken toe
from trying to kick the door open when my hands were full.
 
See not so bad
J

Derek:
 
A possible broken toe is not that bad?

Roni:
 
Not when you’re me.
 
I’m used to
them by now.

He laughed
again.
 
This girl was seriously a walking
hazard zone.
 
He had to talk to Rocco
about that safety suit.
 
He liked her and
kind of wanted to keep her around for a bit.
 

Derek: Can you safely get into bed or do you
need help?

Ok, he knew it
was a cheesy line, but hey, he was a nerdy guy.
 

Roni:
 
Hmm, do you have anyone in mind who can help me?

Derek:
 
I know one guy who would love the job ;)

Roni:
 
Can I have his name and number?

Derek: Well, if I have to tell you that then
I am in big trouble here.

Roni:
 
Oh are you talking about my super-hot tech mogul boss?

Derek:
 
Super-hot huh?
 
I like being
described that way.
 

Roni: Ugh, I bet you’re described that way
by many girls.
 

Derek:
 
You’re description of me is all that matters.

Roni:
 
Whatever.
 

Derek:
 
It’s true.

Roni:
 
Go back to your computer mistress boss man.
 
I WILL check up on you in the morning.
 

Derek:
 
Yes, ma’am.
 
Good night, and
please be careful getting into bed.

He set his
iPhone back on his desk.
 
He stared out
his office window, barely able to make out the outlines of the mountains in the
pure blackness of the night.
 
Derek
stared into the darkness thinking of Roni, instead of his work as he normally
did.
 
He had spent plenty of weekends at
the office clicking away on his keyboard. Nothing had been able to distract
him. Now he sat at his desk, hands resting immobile on the keyboard, thinking
of Roni.
 

Even before he
had even spoken to her, Derek knew Roni was someone very special.
 
He felt something for her.
 
He wasn’t sure what that meant, nor did he
want to examine his feelings in the moment.
 
The women in his past only wanted him to buy them pretty things, take
them to fancy restaurants or give them a good time in bed.
 
None of them had ever wanted to do anything
for him.
 
Roni texting to be sure he
wasn’t working himself to death was a new experience for Derek.
 
Her insistence that he take care of himself,
made him feel cared for.
 
A sentiment
that Derek was not familiar with.
 

He knew that
spending weekends working as he often did was a death sentence for any
relationship.
 
His sole focus for nearly
a decade had been the company that Alex and he was determined to build.
 
This was their dream. This company was as important
to him as a child was to a parent.
 
They
had started this company their last year in college.
 
He was the brains and Alex was the
salesman/finance guy.

 
During the day they went to classes and at
night they worked on smaller contracts they were able to obtain through Alex’s
sheer determination and charming personality.
 
Derek suspected Alex had under bid and over promised a lot back
then.
 
He never cared though.
 
Derek knew he could deliver whatever type of
security package that Alex promised.
 
The
first program they ever sold was created in their apartment just off of the famous
Pearl Street Mall.
 

They had grown
that small beer money business into a billion dollar security power house.
 
A name everyone in the industry, and even
some outside, knew.
 
He knew nothing but
work and the occasional night with a woman for so long.
 
He wasn’t sure he could maintain a real
relationship without sacrificing the company he had built.
 

Derek pushed
his wayward thoughts aside, no need to worry about a relationship when he
wasn’t certain that is what Roni and he had.
 
As his fingers began to fly over the keyboard once more adding to his
masterpiece, the building security guard knocked on his office door.
 
He held Derek’s pizza in his hands.
 

“Thanks for
bringing the pizza up to me Marcus.”
 
Derek said as he took the pizza from the military statue of a man.
 

“Was surprised
to see the pizza guy.
 
In all the years I
have worked nights for you, I don’t think I have ever seen you order food.”
Marcus laughed. “Good to know the rumors of you being a cyborg are false.
 
Good night, Mr.
 
Callaway.”
 
Marcus left after that comment.
 

Derek shook
his head.
 
At that remark from the ever
stoic, ever silent Marcus, he knew that Roni was right, he needed to be more
personable to his employees.
 
Maybe
communicating via email was not as conducive to business as he had
thought.
 

After
devouring half the pizza, Derek settled into his work again.
 
Thoughts of Roni no longer floated through
his mind.
 
His focus returned to his
first love.
 
The skeleton to his
masterpiece would be concluded as he originally had planned