Patent Pending (closed)

[jc199123]

James was listening to Sprouse when he was distracted by a girl he had never seen before James was too distracted by work to notice any new hires around. James barely got a nod out before she left. He snapped to when he noted the words new kid on the block. James wasn't phased by hearing Sprouse she may own the company in twenty years. He thought to himself “if anyone’s going to have your job it’s me though if she is as pretty as I seen losing the job for a little while wouldn’t be too bad”. “What all will the email contain boss” James asked. “Yea that would be great James said “two months should be that hard given the team has kept accurate records and files and the development team hasn’t just given up on it” he stated to Sprouse. “Will that be all I have work to do boss” James asked hoping that will be all.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"That'll be --- wait, there'll be a couple more things. Since Research and Development is going to be splitting into two divisions, we'll be getting two new Division Heads. Gaming is going to be the smaller Division, and you'll be going to that one. You'll probably be meeting your soon-to-be new boss over the next few weeks, but no hurry. Her name's...Ashley Jeston. She's won a lot of TIGA awards over in Britain, so Vinci recruited her for our company. And Caroline you already met. As well as running her own project in nanotechnology and additive manufacturing, she'll be heading up the main division in R&D. There they go now."

Three woman passed the door to Jack Sprouse's outside office. In the middle was Nadia Moustas, her attention being divided between the tablet in her hand and the two women walking on either side of her. Nadia was still dressed in a modest, businesslike fashion, it still enhanced her beauty more than her previous wardrobe had. On Nadia's left was Caroline Redding, the young woman who had stuck her head into Jack's office a few minutes ago. Caroline looked to be about four inches taller than Nadia, but they were both built similarly. Caroline was wearing blue dress jeans and a black, long sleeved blouse, that emphasized her beautiful shape. Caroline's long chestnut hair was tied behind her in a long, loose ponytail.

On the other side of Nadia was the woman who would be the head of the Gaming Division at Vinci, Ashley Jeston. Ashley looked to be the same size as Nadia, with the same great shape as Nadia. Ashley was fair skinned, though, with pale blonde hair just barely reaching the collar of the loose T-shirt she was wearing, which had the Tasmanian Devil riding a cartoon dragon on the back. Ashley's jeans were a very faded blue, with a couple of patches on them. The three quickly disappeared around the corner.

"James, that email will be waiting for you when you get back to your desk," Jack told him. "Give me a call if you need anything."

 

[jc199123]

James heads to his desk and logs into his email. He searches Sprouses email address, finds the email Sprouse was talking about it looked like it was mostly image and .txt files which he hoped wear the coding and the email stated the interface is glitching and will not respond at all at times. James opened some of the image files named blue prints. The product looked like a VR visor that completely encased the users’ eyes and ears. James thinks the devise must plug into a computer, console or both. He figures he looked at enough for now, should I go see my new boss? Then it hit James why are the splitting the R&D team? Also James wonders how his new boss Ashley Jeston is going to be.

After an hour or two of looking at all the blue prints James thinks the product should be sound at least the physical aspect of it the programming maybe where the problem is hiding. He hated the aspect of reading all the lines of code 100 pages could be just getting the startup screen and that thought sends shivers up his spine. James figured now is a good time to figure out where his new bosses’ office was. “I bet Sprouse is tired of seeing me Thought” James. Hey boss where MS. Jeston office at is James said as he peeked his head into Sprouse’s office.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

Jack wasn't in his office, but Mac his administrative assistant was. Mac was a younger man, just a couple years older than James. His hair was light blonde and already thinning. Mac was thin but had something of a potbelly.

"Hay James," Mac said, straightening papers on Jack's desk. "Mr. Sprouse isn't here. But the gaming research is going to be set up at the new addition on the south side of the building. Ms. Jeston's office is already set up in the far southwest corner.

 

[jc199123]

“Thanks Mac” James said before leaving. While walking to the new part of the building James began to think “maybe I should still keep my distance from Nadia at least for now any way, I wonder if Caroline has the same principles as Nadia”? As James exited his old branch of the office he began to think what they are going to do with my stuff like tools and equipment and the data on the pc at my desk. “The data would be easy to retrieve” James thought “all I would have to do is either transfer it on a portable hard drive then transfer it to the new pc or download it to the new pc from my email the latter would be easier to do but the first wouldn’t take up as much data on the companies connection”. James tried to catch a glimpse of Caroline before he got to his new bosses’ office. He wanted to all of her looks didn’t really matter to James but he still wanted to see her. “Caroline’s face alone was beautiful” James thought to himself “but it never hurt to see all of her”.

James Never did see Caroline before reaching his bosses’ office. He hoped that they might run into each other again after James finishes meeting MS. Jeston. James caught a glimpse of Ashley and thought “sweet we may get to wear our street wear hear at least I hope that’s her street wear”. James reached door and knocked on the t and waited for MS. Jeston to welcome him in.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

A rather plain looking girl, short, skinny and with a small chest and wearing a jean skirt and dressy T-shirt stuck her head out of Ms. Jeston's office.

"Ashley's out of the office right now, but she'll back in a coupla hours," the girl said. She looked to be in her early twenties, with an average looking face with shoulder length mousy brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. She looked up at James and grinned, revealing braces.

"Hey, I know you! James Vahnbran! It's me, Aubree Bentley! We were in the same English Literature class together, senior year in high school. And now we're working together! Cool! I'm Ashley's administrative assistant. She's pretty cool to work with. I heard you were working here at Vinci, in the gaming division. So I guess you came to see who your new boss is then, when they split gaming R&D from the rest of the R&D group. Cool! Anything I can do for you?" she asked hopefully.

 

[jc199123]

James thought MS. Jeston was very pretty in her skirt and T-shirt. He was relieved the woman stated that Ashley was out; James didn’t want to have a crush on his boss. The name Aubree Bentley didn’t ring a bell to him all James did in English Lit class was either doing his computer repair/electronics class homework or read E-books. Then James remembered that she was one of the many girls in that class that was way out of his league so he mainly stayed to his self the only thing James did in that class was clown around. He still passed the class though even though the teacher would have loved to fail him.

James thought to his self “that the braces where new but what did he know she may have had them in high school.

James kind of didn’t want to crack open the coding for the VR helmet, but he did have work to do. He didn’t know if it would look bad if he would wait and talk to the boss’s new assistant or he could go find Caroline and see if she was free after work so he could taker somewhere and get to know her. James thought to his self I could take both Aubree and Caroline both and see if one of his friends would go so it would not look weird. James thought “what friend could I take maybe Ryu”, Ryu was one of James friends from collage and his Billiards hustle partner. James figured he would call Ryu as soon as he got off of work if everything went fine and both girls went if not he didn’t know what to do. James asked Aubree if it would be ok if he stayed and they talked a little till boss got back. James wanted to ask if she always had the braces but didn’t want to offend her so he figured better to try to ease that question in. James waited for Aubree’s answer.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Sure," Aubrey said with a grin, her braces on full display. "You can hang out here all afternoon if you like. I don't know when the boss lady will be back though. She went out on a "working lunch" with the other new R&D boss, Caroline, and that women from the front office, Nadia something or other." Aubrey made quote marks in the air when she said "working lunch," then giggled afterwards. Aubrey's giggle might have been a little too high pitched. "I don't know if you heard the rumors, but there's going to be some changes in management at Vinci. That's what I heard, anyway. Not my problem, though. I'm just here to keep the office in order," Aubrey concluded.

 

[jc199123]

James thought Aubree giggle was cute a little high pitched though but how care. James sat down and prepared to sit for a while. James thought “I’ll stay for a while or so but I’ve got to get back to work maybe I should see if Aubree wants to keep me company there instead of being cooped up in here”. He knew something about the “new bosses” Sprouse told him. James began to daydream about high school and all the pranks he done like setting another students slideshow project to play a heavy metal son that sang nothing but curse words but in my defense James thought he did bully me a lot until then. Another prank he did was to set the teachers alarm clock that she kept in the classroom to go off every hour on the hour,or hide a gag electronic device in the English lit teachers class where it chirped like crickets everytime the lightes were off. James hoped that Aubree wouldn’t remember all those prank and think he is still immature like back then.

“What happened to you after high school James asked”? After I went to collage I lost touch with some of my friend and thus couldn’t keep up with what happened to all of our class.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Got out of the house, got married, got an associate degree at the local junior college, and got divorced, but not necessarily in that order," Aubree giggled. "You remember Brad Jackson, our star running back? After we graduated, me and him started dating. Yeah, I was surprised, too, since all he did in high school was date cheerleaders, not little mouse girls like me. Turned out that once he graduated, he did something to lose his athletic scholarship to the State University, and his little cheerleader groupies didn't want anything to do with him. I was thrilled when he asked me to marry him, then found out afterwards all Brad wanted to do was relive his glory days. And have me support him. I wised up fast and got out of that marriage. And here I am, great job, great boss and a great company. I'm not looking for guys out of my league because, chances are, they're not in my league. So that's the times and philosophy of Aubrey Bentley." Aubrey turned to make an entry on her computer, then turned back to James. "So what's happening with you?"

 

[jc199123]

“Yea I knew him” James replied to Aubree question. James kind of perked up when he heard that she was single. God then there is a good chance asking Aubree to hang with him won’t be awkward if they go alone. “What happened to me was that I went to college on a scholarship” James replied “the freshman year the place I got it from went under and had to scrape by on the money I made by fixing electronics till on friend introduced me to Billiards then I started to play for money that’s how I paid for it and got one of my cars ”.James continued “I also destroyed the head electronic engineer ‘s workshop and started to work here the rest you could read it on my review files they have on me” James stated.

“So are you seeing anyone” James asked Hoping the answer was no, What time did the boss say she would be back?

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Kinda sorta not really thing," Aubree said with a laugh. "Brad kinda did a number on my head. Nobody wants to be the girl that gets asked when the hot chick doesn't want to go out with a guy. Which is what my marriage was," Aubree shrugged. "So I sort of have someone that I hang out with sometime, but he knows I'm not ready for a physical relationship yet. But hey, that wouldn't stop us from hanging out," Aubree told James.

 

[jc199123]

James freaked on the inside when Aubree said that nobody want to be the girl that gets ask after the hot chick. He didn’t know why that was but it was a relief when Aubree stated she didn’t want anything physical. He wondered if they guy was her unofficial boyfriend or just a friend but he wouldn’t press the issue because if they went out it was to get to know one another again after all these years. James started to get worried what time it was and that people were going to think he was reverting back to his old ways and he didn’t want to lose the VR project .After James looked at his phone to see what time it was he figured it was time to head back to head back to his desk and get to work. James thought about it and he didn’t want to leave Aubree here alone so he gave it some thought on what to do and figured he could see if she would go with him to his desk and they could talk till the boss got back or they could go to the break room and chat. James really didn’t want to get his new Co-worker in trouble but the thought of her here board killed him. So without giving it a second thought he ask Aubree “do you want to go to my desk and talk more till boss gets back or do you have more work here to do”? James hoped she would say yes but he under stood if Aubree couldn’t do it.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Ah, that's sweet, James, but I've got some work to do here as well. Get on back to your cubicle. Besides, if all the rumors are true, there's going to be a shakeup in management pretty soon. And us low level types like you and me need to look busy," Aubree said with a laugh.

 

[jc199123]

For me there is no need to look it I will be busy with my project James said while getting up to leave. Oh and one more thing before i leave do you want to go somewhere and catch up James asked Aubree maybe we could go to the bowling alley and play some billiards I can teach you how to play if you don't know how?

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Cool!" Aubree replied. "Eight ball is my game, and I do break 200 once in a great while," she laughed. "Let me know the time and place, and I'm your girl."

"And that's what I like to see and hear, my people getting along great!" a soprano voice with a British accent said from the doorway. A beautiful buxom blonde was leaning against the doorway. She was wearing a T-shirt that had the Tasmanian Devil wearing ill fitting armor and riding a dragon. The caption on front read "I Brake For Virgins" and on back "I'll be back for you later." There was a single lock of hair on the blonde's head that was died bright pink.

"I suspect you're James Vahnbran. Ashley Jeston," she said, sticking her hand out. "Treat my girl here well," she added, hugging Aubree around the shoulders, "and we'll get along smashingly!"

 

[jc199123]

James kind of stiffened up when he heard the voice come out of nowhere. He thought to his self “how did that person sneak up on him James was good about sensing if someone was behind him”. James wasn’t psychic or anything he was good about using the shiny world around him to tell if someone was there. James turned around to see a voluptuous blonde with a pink streak in her hair. James laughed a little on the inside about MS. Jestons shirt James didn’t want to offend her by laughing at it so he kept quiet.” Yes” MS.Jeston James said while reaching his hand out to see if she wants to shake his. “I just wanted to see my new boss in person and I found Aubree here and figured I needed a break from work so I stayed and started talking to her I hope I didn’t get her in trouble or anything” James said hoping he didn’t.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"My lass could never be in trouble with me," Ashley replied, shaking James' hand before giving Aubree another hug. Aubree just grinned and blushed at the attention.

"Anyway, it's Ashley, not Ms. Jeston. We're not going to be on the stuffy side of R&D, after all. But we're still going to get things done. Jack has informed me of where you're off to for the next month or so. Just CC me on how things are going, and I'll be looking forward to you doing your own VR project when you get back. I think I have Nadia almost on board about us coming up with our own gaming platform, but there are those who think we ought to stick to bangers and mash." Ashley shrugged, a feat made impressive by her form. "Anyway, James, let me send you on your way so me and my girl can get some work done."

 

[jc199123]

“Ok MS.Jes err I mean Ashley” James said “yea I have to get back to my desk the coding isn’t going to read its self” he continued giving a little look of fear. Aubree can we meet up after work to discuss the details of it James stated before Ashley said something else? James stood there hoping that Ashley didn’t push him out before he got his answer. James thought should I bring my A game when we play or lessen it up because he didn’t know her overall skill will be when they play. Plus James didn’t want to look like a jerk but he also didn’t want to look like he was letting her win just because he was trying to get in Aubree’s pants.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

"Text me," Aubrey said, handing James a post it note with her phone number, "Give me a time and place, and I'll be there."

"Enough of that, children," Ashley said in an amused tone. "Work to be done and all that. End of the day will be here soon enough. Back to your code reading, James. Aubrey and I have work of our own." The smile on Ashley's face let James know she was happy he and Aubrey had hit it off.

 

[jc199123]

James replies to Aubree’s “text me” with “ok” and leaves before Ashely gets mad at him. James folded the post it note and put it in his pocket.

James got to his desk and logged into his computer and opened the first of a long series of the code files. While reading the files James thought about if he should even invite Caroline or leave her alone. After some thinking James decided not to invite her it wouldn’t be far to Aubree anyway he didn’t tell her that he was going to invite anyone. After some time James got up from his computer and stretched out his legs and to rest his eyes the codes were driving him crazy it didn’t look like he was even out of the codes for the startup process. James thought to his self “I think I’m going to have to use the VR helmet and see what exactly is making it mess up”. James continued to read because he thought he may find the glitch and try to formulate a fix for it.

After several more hours James looked up from his PC and realized it was quitting time and logged of the computer. He sent a txt to Aubree stating: Hey Aubree this is James I just wanted to know what you thought about shooting some billiards this evening at 7 at the last frame bowling alley they have some good tables and it shouldn’t be busy. James pressed send and headed home.

When James got home he put the phone on the loudest setting and put on a Kung Fu movie playlist he had on his pc and fixed himself something to eat while he watched movies and waited on the text from Aubree.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

As soon as she got the text, Aubree gleefully replied, I'll see you there.

 

[jc199123]

James was almost asleep when he to the text from Aubree. James replied to the text with can’t wait. He got up and went to his room and picked out some clothes and went to take a shower. After the shower James shaved and put on some aftershave balm because if he didn’t it would look like someone took a belt sander to his face with all the redness and bump from skin irritation. James put on his clothes boxers, Khaki shorts, a Led Zeppelin stair way to heaven t-shirt, and a Light long sleeve dress shirt. James leaves his long sleeve dress shirt open and the cuffs unbuttoned he looks at his phone he has about two hours left James sets down to finish the movie he was watching.

The movie finishes and James looks at his phone and sees he has about 35 to 40 minutes go get there so he puts on some of his echo untl. Cologne and grabs his key and looks at them they were the ones to his beater of a car so he puts them down. He figures if there was ever a time to break out the GTO tonight was it.
James gets into his car and turns it over. He revs the engine just to hear it roar. He sends a quick text to Aubree saying “on my way” then shifts it into reverse backs out and then shifts it in first and leaves. James figures if he gets there first he could grab a table and practice a few trick shots till she gets there.

 

[GypsyGirl84]

Aubree got to the Last Frame Bowling Alley first. Stepping inside, she didn't see James, but she was patient. Besides, it was a good place and the crowd looked like it was mostly blue collar guys and gals just looking for a place to hang out and enjoy themselves.

There was a bar area near the door, so Aubree grabbed a table that let her watch the entrance. When the waitress came by, Aubree ordered a hard apple cider.

 

[jc199123]

James pulled to the last stop light before the Bowling alley and scanned the parking lot he wished he knew what car Aubree had so he could tell if she got here first. James pulls in and parks his car at the first empty space he seen and headed in the building.
----
James hopes that Aubree wouldn’t mind how he was dressed he could bet she probably put in more thought on what she wore than him. He also hopes she wouldn’t make fun of him too much the only non-work shoes James had was a pair of red and black Chuck Taylor. Those thoughts soon diminished and his focus soon shifted to finding Aubree for all he knew she made it here before him. James scanned the area for Aubree and wondered what she wore. James thought to himself “I should have asked but I didn’t want to seem creepy oh well if she is here she will find me”.