Chapter 1: The New Recruit

Danielle arrives for her first day on the job, and her mere presence gives Blake some feelings that he's blocked out of his mind for the longest time.

Blake works on the tenth floor of an office-building in the metropolitan district of New Orleans, as an insurance agent for several clients. He is the only male to have an office on this floor, while everyone else in the vicinity is a woman. All of them are within their late twenties and early thirties, and yet they all feel totally comfortable working with him. They all view him as a nice guy. He remains respectful and diplomatic at all times, he doesn't harass anyone or even try to test the waters. He doesn't even have the wandering eye typical of men his age. Nope, he treats women with just as much respect as he does all other types of people.

Some might say it's odd that he acts like this. He's a heterosexual, twenty-nine-year-old virgin who's never dated or married anyone, and doesn't even bother with bar talk like a lot of his male colleagues do. Then again, maybe it's his appearance that turns other people off. He looks as though he stepped right out of a 1940s film noir, what with his pale skin, inky, slicked back hair, and slate gray eyes, alongside the fact that he always wears clothing in black, white, and shades of gray. He stands at 6'2", shaves constantly, and rarely if ever works out, but stays thin thanks to a semi-strict vegan diet.

He seemingly has no interest in women, preferring instead to focus on his work and keep to himself. And it seems that nothing or no one will be able to break him out of his soft-spoken, reserved, reclusive shell. That is until one fateful morning...

Blake sits hunched over his desk, completely engrossed in his nine-to-five job like he always is every weekday. At the moment, he's on the phone with one of the many clients he's been assigned during his three years of work at this agency.

"Hello, Mr. Frost? Hi, sorry to bother you, but this is Roxanne Romano. I'm calling because my fiancé Trevor... er, well what does that matter? Long story short, we've gotten some new dents in the drywall over the past month or so. I just wanna make sure we're covered on this," the client explains, speaking in an odd hybrid between Brooklyn and New Orleans accents.

"Oh, no worries. We've got you covered no problem," Blake replies. His tone is a lot more gentle than you might think, given his reclusive nature.

Almost immediately after the conversation ends, Blake's ears perk up at the sound of a voice he's never heard before. Can you blame him? The only colleagues he consistently interacts with are the twenty-something women on his floor, so expecting him to recognize everyone in the building would be asking too much.

He can't help but look up as the manager of his floor shakes hands with what appears to be a newly hired staff member. She undoubtedly sticks out from the other women in the vicinity; about 5'8", with an hourglass figure, caramel-colored skin, and curled mocha-brown hair that stops at her waist. Her C-cup breasts strain against her skintight blouse as she stands there. If Blake's male friends on the upper floors were here to see this, they'd probably be whistling and cat-calling right about now.

Blake's eyes widen a bit as his new colleague is assigned the cubicle right across the aisle from his, but he quickly reverts to a neutral expression and focuses back on his work. His ears remain focused on the nearby discussion, however.

"Okay, Ms. McGuire. This is where you'll be working, at least for the time being," the manager says with a courteous smile.

"Sounds awesome. Thanks," the brunette replies, immediately sitting down and scanning her new office. "Man, I can't wait to customize this place a little."

Blake shrugs and focuses back on his work for real this time, still a bit surprised at how focused he was on what just transpired. He's seen countless employees join and leave the offices on this floor and hardly spared such occasions a thought, so why was he so invested in this particular instance?

"Er, excuse me?"

His thinking is cut off at the sound of a slightly sultry feminine voice. Looking up, he nearly leaps out of his chair as the first thing he sees is a pair of deep, azure eyes. They're only accentuated further by a large, dorky pair of glasses. Just below, a pair of moderately plump, blood red lips slightly opens up, revealing a thin sliver of the straight, porcelain white teeth hidden behind them. It's the same woman who was just hired.

"Uh... yes?" Blake replies, slight hesitation marring his tone.

"Hi, I'm Danielle," the brunette introduces herself, offering her hand for Blake to shake. "I'm new here, and I was wondering if you could show me where the coffee maker is. I like to have at least one cup before I start working. Part of my routine, y'know?"

"Oh, um, sure. I'll show you," Blake replies, mustering up a smile as he stands up. Even though he prefers to keep to himself, he does know how to be courteous when the situation calls for it.

He escorts Danielle to the staff lounge at the other end of the nearest hallway. Inside it, a few female workers are working independently on their laptops and snacking on a wide assortment of donuts. Not one of them looks up from what they're doing, seemingly either unaware or uninterested in the fact that there's a new recruit. On the massive table in the center is a box of donuts, and the desired coffee-maker.

"Ooh, they've got donuts too?" Danielle's eyes light up.

"Yeah, but only on Fridays," Blake explains.

"I sure hope they've got some cream-filled long johns in there. God knows how much I love sucking out the filling," Danielle continues, strutting over towards the table.

On pure impulse, Blake's eyes dart downward slightly. He notices how tight Danielle's slacks appear to be, highlighting her thick thighs and bulbous rear end. He can even see the outlines of some Brazilian-cut panties. The view makes him smirk a little, but he's not sure why. He's never felt this type of emotion before.

Blake snaps out of his brief trance as Danielle turns back around, a paper cup of coffee in one hand, and a napkin with a custard-filled donut in the other. He quickly switches back to a neutral expression before she can suspect anything. He chooses to lead her back to the cubicles in the off-chance that she gets lost. Upon arrival, they both return to their respective offices and focus back on their work, neither of them aware of what thoughts are swirling around in each other's heads. Blake in particular is still trying to figure out what thoughts are going on in his own head, and he's secretly glad that Danielle doesn't know either.