"Great news," said Julian, breezing into her office without bothering to knock.

Cress kept her eyes glued on the screen in front of her. The new government project was more complicated than she had expected and the details were already giving her a headache.

"Carswell Thorne is 29, originally from Chicago, and very single."

This made Cress look up from her screen with a frown. "How can someone be very single?"

Julian took a seat in front of her desk and leaned his elbows against a stack of papers she had arranged next to one of her monitors. "It means he is not currently in a relationship or dating anyone casually."

"How did you manage to figure this out in just the last ten minutes since our meeting concluded?"

"I have my methods."

Cress sat there trying to think of what to say. Her monitor beeped twice and she thankfully returned her attention to the program.

"You could say thank you," said Julian. "I did this for you, you know." Even with the way she had purposefully positioned herself slightly behind her monitor, she could still see the way he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," she said, trying to suppress a smile.

"No?"

"Nope."

"Then it probably wouldn't interest you to know that he said you were cute."

Cress's fingers, which were busy typing in commands, halted immediately. She stared in disbelief at Julian. "He did not!"

"No, you're right, he didn't," said Julian, now grinning, "but I knew that would get your attention."

Cress's face fell. "You're mean."

"A little, yeah. But it was worth it to know that you do have a crush on him."

"It's not a crush." She repeated the sentence several times in her mind before speaking again. "Yes, I find him attractive, but I don't know anything about him." When Julian raised his eyebrows she mumbled, "Besides that he's 29, originally from Chicago, and, um, very single."

"And guess who else is single? Our resident female tech prodigy, Cress Darnel. What a strange coincidence! And since Carswell Thorne appears to be attracted to women, I say you jump on that before someone else snatches him up."

Though the idea of her snatching anyone up was rather preposterous, Cress's mind trailed to the other women who worked at Satellite Technologies that would be at least somewhat age appropriate for Carswell Thorne.

There was Kate, who worked the front desk reception, Luisa in the marketing department, Blakely the tech intern—but she was possibly seeing Connor—Shan in the finance department, and Carina, the programmer who had just started working there three months ago. She supposed she should add Emily, the corporate account, to the list as well, since the two of them had exchanged a few glances throughout Jerry's long-winded presentation.

"Earth to Cress."

"Oh! Yes?"

Julian's grin was a little too big. "Are you thinking about your future children?"

"No!"

He got up, still grinning, and reached into his pocket. He handed her a small card that was red and sparkly. She turned it over in her hand.

ELECTRIC MIRAGE
VIP PASS
ADMIT 1

"Those are from your future baby daddy. Said he knows the owner or something. A bunch of us are going there tonight. So you owe me, honey, because that's Christopher's ticket in your hand." Julian put a hand on his hip. "As if he would ever go. Half the employees in this company would never go."

Cress stared at the glittery writing. What would have happened if she had stayed behind after the meeting, instead of running back to her office as quickly as possible? Would she have shaken Carswell Thorne's hand?

She needed to stop calling him Carswell Thorne.

"The Electric Mirage?" she asked Julian. "Is that the lounge-bar place in the Gaslamp district where they have those special DJs?"

Julian shook his head. "Special DJs? Lounge-bar place? I should take back your ticket just because you said that. It's only the coolest place to be, and people like me and you can only dream of getting a VIP pass there."

Cress closed her fist around the card and grimaced. Julian was one of her only colleagues with an active social life. She was constantly surprised that he still invited her to tag along from time to time, though she had turned him down more often than she could count. "It's—it's like you say. We can only dream of going there."

"And now the dream is a reality, honey. So we are going to go out, get dressed up, and flirt our asses off with Carswell Thorne."

Cress let a small smile slip onto her face. "Stop calling him Carswell Thorne."

"Do you prefer Mr. Thorne, or the more intimate Carswell?"

"Go away."

Julian waggled his eyebrows again, then stalked toward the door. As he left, he called behind him, "Jerry wants to see you in his office, by the way."

Sighing, Cress got up and straightened her skirt. She stuffed the small VIP card in her purse so she wouldn't think about it for the rest of the day, then fished around for her brush. Her hair was long and usually swept up in a bun to be professional, but after chewing her bottom lip a few times, she undid her hair binder and let her blonde locks fall past her shoulders. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually brushed her hair at work, but there had never been anyone to impress, either.

That was all she wanted, she told herself, as she ran the comb through the knots in her hair. She had made a terrible impression this morning when he'd walked by her in the hallway, and she simply wanted to make up for it.

She was Satellite Technologies' prodigy, as Julian had rightly reminded her.

Prodigies were supposed to be impressive.

She double-checked the button on her blouse to make sure that it had not popped open again, and then looked down at her outfit. She untucked her blouse. Then tucked it in again.

What was she doing?

Berating herself internally, she left her office and made her way to Jerry's office. Somewhat to her dismay and relief, she did not pass the Greek god directly, though she spotted him chatting up Carina over in the cubicles designated for new employees. She tried to glide mysteriously as she passed by the general area, but doubted that anyone noticed her. No one except Julian ever noticed her unless they needed help with something.

Jerry was waiting impatiently in his office when she arrived, his fingers keeping time with the clock on his wall. He was sweaty and red-faced, but that was normal for Jerry.

"Cress! Please, have a seat," he said, gesturing in front of his desk. "And shut the door behind you." Cress did as she was told and tried to keep from looking directly at Jerry's nose, which had developed a large bead of sweat. He folded his hands on the desk in front of him. "How are you, Cress?"

"Fine, how are you?" she said automatically.

"Let's cut the chitchat. I've got something special for you to work on. Something big." He leaned forward so much that Cress worried that the bead of sweat would slide off the front of his nose and drip onto the desk.

"Something other than the new contract? Because I've already opened it and taken a look at some of the specs."

"This is why you're my top employee, Cress," said Jerry, finally taking his sleeve and wiping it across his nose. "Everyone else was mingling outside the conference room with the employees from corporate while you got to work."

Cress knew that coming from Jerry it was a big compliment, but after talking to Julian she wasn't sure she wanted to be the top employee in this situation.

"That," Jerry continued, "and you're the best we've got. I don't know what I would do if that talent scout hadn't found you."

"Thank you."

"So I'm going to need your 100% game right now. Because what I'm about to tell you could define your career, Cress. First, though, I need you to sign a new confidentiality agreement."

As Cress's brow furrowed, Jerry slid the document that he had been leaning on across the desk. She glanced at it.

All Satellite Technologies employees received specific security clearances from the government upon joining the company due to the many government contracts they took on each year. She was used to working on confidential projects for other clients too, especially with the competitive cyber market.

This document was stamped with TOP SECRET in the top, right-hand corner.

She signed it quickly; of course she would keep a work project confidential.

Jerry reached into one of his desk drawers and revealed a folder which was not unlike the Electric Mirage VIP Pass in the sense that it, too, glittered. It was purple with a shimmering half-moon on it.

"The project I detailed in the conference room is only a part of what the government has contracted us to do for them. It initially went to corporate because it regards national security, but upon hearing of the successes of one Cress Darnel"—he gestured at Cress, who sat up straighter in her chair—"they decided to outsource it to us. Two of the employees you met today are actually here to make sure that this part of the job gets done correctly and, as I already said, to help out with the extra workload it will create."

Another bead of sweat appeared on his nose. Even for Jerry, it was excessive.

"National security?" said Cress, still waiting for the catch.

"Indeed." Jerry pointed at the folder. "You're going to test a new type of surveillance software."

Cress, who had been leaning forward in anticipation, deflated a little. "That's it?"

Jerry harrumphed. "This is a massive project that the government has worked on for years. It will change the way that terrorist cells are located and targeted. In fact, in a manner of speaking, the surveillance software works a bit like legal hacking."

"Huh."

"Now, from what they've told me, they're having problems with the functionality of the program, so you're going to come at it from all angles, break it down, re-program where necessary, and make it work. There's a big bonus in this for you, Cress, if you can get it to run smoothly. And for Satellite Technologies it means a permanent contract with the government. Sound good?"

Cress nodded absentmindedly as her eyes trailed over the glittering folder again. She wanted to ask why there was a moon on the folder, but figured she would get more answers by actually diving into the code instead.

Jerry cleared his throat. "There's something else, though, Cress, which is important for you to know before you get started. First, the rest of the company is not to know that you're working on this. To everyone else, you're working on the security system revamp as well. The only other people you may discuss this project with are me, Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Thorne. Understood?"

Cress nodded again, but she felt slightly conflicted. On one hand, she was entirely thrilled to know that she was allowed to discuss top secret projects with the hottest employee at Satellite Technologies—whom she had yet to meet officially. On the other hand, she was nervous about not being able to tell Julian that this was the case. Maybe working with Carswell Thorne would be a nightmare.

Or a dream.

"Second," Jerry continued, "and this is very important, Cress…" He wiped the sweat away again, this time on his forehead. "As the scope of this project involves national security, I need you to understand that if someone were to find out that you were working on this project, it could put you in grave danger."

"I would never tell anyone—"

"I'm not doubting your ability to keep a secret. You're my top employee, remember?" He chuckled, but then his face turned serious. "Think of who would want to get their hands on this type of program, Cress. Terrorists. Criminals. Spies. Foreign governments. China."

If Jerry hadn't said it in such a serious tone, Cress would have thought he was telling the punchline of a joke.

She stood up and made to reach for the folder, but Jerry put his hand over hers to stop her. "If you see anything suspicious, please let me know immediately."

Cress pulled the folder and her hand out from under him. "I understand. I'll be careful."

"Good."

Clutching the glittery folder to her chest so that only the blank side faced outward, Cress practically skipped back to her office. She was the lead on a classified project. She was working on something that could protect the country. She was going to get a major bonus.


It was only when Julian texted her to ask where she was at 9:00 p.m. that Cress realized she had worked through dinner and completely forgotten about the Electric Mirage.

She couldn't show up now, with her work clothes and bloodshot eyes and her mind spinning from all the coding she'd done. That was no way to make an impression, unless that impression was frumpy, crazed workaholic.

Her phone vibrated on her desk again, this time with a slanted, blurry picture of Carswell Thorne taking a sip of his drink. After staring at it a little too long and then trying to enhance the image, Cress deleted the picture.

She hoped Julian was having the time of his life. As for her, she would enjoy another one of the many pre-made microwave dinners she kept in her work fridge for these types of occasions.


Note: Thank you for the incredible reviews! You have no idea how encouraging it is to see that people are continuing with my story. (Please don't disappear for the next chapters!) Also, sorry if there are any more typos than usual - I wrote this with my Nuance Dragon recorder. Next up: The 'Damsel in Distress' has to officially meet the 'Captain,' don't you think? *winks*