Never in my life would I ever forget the look on the faces of the delivery man and that handsome young man next to him.My name was Avery Johnson. I was born in 1994, and I died tragically in a case of embarrassment in 2021.My best friend would not stop making fun of me via text message. [Lily: You should've just made an announcement the moment you opened the door. "Hello, I'm here to deliver something that would bring immense pleasure to all women!"][Avery: …][Avery: Lily Green, I'll kill you!]
That was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.After that, I returned to the office for a meeting, and my manager introduced the new intern to us.My life flashed before my eyes when I saw his face. The manager assigned him to work under me."Avery, he'll be working with you."He looked at me with a grin on his face. "Ma'am, you remember me, don't you? We were at Amacon—"Ah-choo!My thunder-like sneeze turned everyone's heads in our direction.I smiled awkwardly but politely in response. "You bet."'Please stop talking already!'
The hottie's name was Jake Young. He was a Gen-Z born in the 2000s who was in his senior year of college. He was six feet tall with broad shoulders. He looked like he hit the gym frequently.That was not the point.The point was that after the meeting, he snuck up behind me and whispered in my ear."It's all good, Miss Johnson. We're all adults here. I understand you have needs."I was speechless.'I really needed that. Thanks a lot!'
The kid seemed to be pretty well-off. His backpack alone cost two of my paychecks.I professionally squandered my envy and ran him through the job tasks.He picked things up very quickly and adapted to change well, saving me a lot of trouble.However, his arrival also brought about a sense of… restlessness amongst my co-workers. The lot of us had quite the dry spell.My colleague, Kate, sighed to me. "God, that Jake kid is so handsome. I swear if I were just two years younger, I'd eat him up."She made an elaborate gesture of clenching her fist when she finished speaking while she wiggled her eyebrows.I replied, "He was born in the 2000s…"I thought to myself, 'Kate, you were born in the 1980s. Also, you'd be competing with literally every other girl in our department.'Kate rambled on. "What about it? He's still an adult, isn't he? I'm telling you, Avery, you shouldn't be so old-fashioned anymore when it comes to love. It goes deeper than surface-level stuff, you know. It's a
The gods did not seem to be in my favor that day. Work was almost over, and I was still knee-deep in tasks.'What's gotten into me? This isn't how Avery Johnson does things! I'll finish today's tasks by today even if it kills me!'I worked overtime as one did.As everyone began to leave, Jake came over to me. "Miss Johnson, why aren't you heading home yet?""Soon. I'll leave when I'm done here. You can go home first, no worries."Jake stood rooted to the spot for another second longer, then turned and walked away.I continued my tasks.What I did not expect was for him to return with two lattes in hand.He then passed one to me. "I wasn't sure if you liked your coffee too strong, so I only asked for half a shot of espresso just to be safe."I raised my eyebrows. The kid had pretty good instincts too.I had always ordered my coffee with only half a shot of espresso.I took the cup from him and thanked him. "Thanks. Aren't you still living on campus? You should head home soon.
My heart began to race after it awoke from a long sleep. It then calmed down almost instantaneously.I touched my earlobes. I had just gotten the earrings. It was a nice feeling to be complimented on them the first time I wore them out.I figured that the kid was probably a raging player, or at the very least, a shameless flirt.As a mature adult worn down by the world, I would not let a young boy fool me, as handsome as his looks were!However, every time I worked overtime at the office, Jake would be there. He even offered me snacks from time to time.Initially, I thought it was just a ploy for him to climb the corporate ladder, but it seemed like he was only treating me that way compared to everyone else from our department.Naturally, I mistook his ministrations as an attempt to court me.During a girls' night out with Lily, I could not help but blurt out my thoughts to her.Lily was silent."Aves, I think he wants to sleep with you."I almost had a heart attack. "Why wou
The next day, I avoided Jake like my life depended on it, doing my best to keep our conversations strictly work-related.Jake, well. He was not oblivious about it either. He then sent me a text.[Jake: Are you avoiding me, Miss Johnson?]He was straight to the point. God, he really was a kid.I drafted my subsequent response with extreme care.[Avery: I'm not avoiding you. I just don't think it's a good idea to be seen together so often at work, that's all.]There was no response for a while.[Jake: Alright.]I snuck a glance back.Jake's head was bowed, and the expression on his face was unclear. His entire body seemed to wilt, almost sagging onto the floor.I felt pretty bad, all things considered.True to his word, Jake kept his distance after that. He no longer referred to me as Miss Johnson. Instead, he called me Avery like everyone else did.Well, good effort, I suppose. That was nice.…One day, I stayed late at work again. I absent-mindedly walked to the elevator
I gave in just a tiny bit.My first response to Jake coming up to me was not to back further away. Instead, I slapped a hand onto his chest.Jake's eyes widened, as did mine.I jerked my hand back as if I was electrocuted. I racked my head for a response. "You… You shouldn't be this close…"The kid had a pretty solid chest.Jake whimpered, retreating to his previous spot. It was as if he had begun to wilt again.My frustration grew. Why did it seem like sixteen floors took forever that day?I stepped out the second the elevator doors opened, desperate to exit this mess.I guess I had taken too far of a stride. My left shoe got stuck in the elevator door, flying from my foot as I staggered to catch my balance.I was speechless.The tension only thickened even more. To make matters worse, I was in a pencil skirt. One wrong move trying to retrieve the wretched shoe, and I would have flashed someone.Just as I was getting into position to bend over, Jake picked the shoe up in a