Configure Me

Sally stopped and looked at him, a little taken aback, "Okay, why not?"

Mark drew in and ran his finger through her hair, the red spilling between his dark fingers as Sally felt her scalp being caressed. Mark's breathing grew heavier as Sally drew in.

Mark drawled huskily, "Your hair Sally, it is so beautiful, so reflective, and it looks arduous, strong. It's not dissimilar to the copper piping that I recently purchased from a hardware store."

Sally snapped out of her lust-induced daze and gazed at Mark. Tall. Handsome. Dark. Intelligent. Horribly Offensive.

"You're horrible." Sally said furiously, before slapping his hand away and storming off furiously.

"Wait! Wait!" Mark ran up to her flapping his hands in momentary excitement, "Have I offended you? I really do like your hair, it's just the same colour as copper."

Sally looked directly into Mark's open earnest face, "Well, that is slightly more flattering, but it's still not really nice to tell a girl that her hair looks like it came from a hardware store."

"Well, it looks like copper, and that's pretty, you're pretty. I know, I shouldn't tell you this, as my sister has told me to consider how I approach women, but you're very, very pretty." Mark was looking between her face to her breasts.

"Thank you, you're also, well, a handsome chap. But why has your sister told you to be careful of how you speak to women? That's a bit worrying." Sally wondered if he had a history of stalking or worse.

"I have Asperger's apparently. Neurotypicals don't always understand me."

"Neurotypical, am I a neurotypical?" Sally looked up at him.

"If you find me offensive then probably, yes."

"Right, Asperger's, is that like a mild form of autism? I am sure I read about it somewhere."

"It is. I like you Sally, a lot." Mark replied tersely.

Sally looked at him, her heart yearning to respond by thrusting herself at him, but her head was kept firmly in place, "I've only just started to work with you Mark, so we have to not like each other for now, just be colleagues, then perhaps friends. Okay? I really need to go, I have a cat, she needs feeding. See you tomorrow."

"I like cats! Can I see your cat? Can I-" Mark watched as Sally practically sprinted off. He knew he might have done something wrong, but he was not certain what.

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"There is a pretty girl with red hair in my office. I don't know what to do. Help me Lillith!" Mark clutched the handset, still feeling stressed from pent-up lust despite having gone for his extra long run to calm his inner tensions.

"Well, just don't offend her, be nice to her, don't overwhelm her." Lillith suggested.

"That's okay, I have been quite nice to her, though Ryan did not think so. Shall I ask her to be my girlfriend?" Mark postulated.

"Well, take it easy there baby, though I also wouldn't worry much about what Ryan thinks, he's not a good person. Just well, play it cool. Go to the office tomorrow, and then after an hour, offer to make everyone coffee." Lillith drawled.

"We do not have communal coffee-making culture in our office." Mark responded sternly.

"Well, that's not the point, the point is that you can ask everyone if they want a cup of coffee so that you can talk to this girl you like. Just ask her, when you get her cup, how she is, how she is settling in and tell her she can ask for your help if she needs anything." Lillith suggested.

"And then what do I do?" Mark asked.

"Wait, patiently, wouldn't hurt you some. I'm on a vacation for two weeks-"

"Two weeks, why?!" Mark flapped his free hand in worry, Lillith had to be there to help him in his time of need, as she always was.

Lillith chuckled though Mark did not see what was so funny, "Patience bro, got a ticket through the post today. New travel company who had heard of my chopper shop offered me a free vacation to the rocky mountains with my bike, staying in five star hotels, free meals in good restaurants, so much, so excited."

"Are you going with Kara?" every time Mark thought of Kara a shudder of fear travelled up his spine, though he was lucky to have a spine at all, after Kara jumped on it when they were kids and she was pretending to be a WWF wrestler.

"No, apparently it's a pre-selected group with other people involved in the motorcycling industry, It's going to be crazy! I just need to meet the group at midnight down some area of downtown and then we get taken to a secret luxury location. Kinda weird, but who cares with a free vacation right? This is the kind of fantasy vacation I told you about." Lillith's voice heightened with runaway excitement.

Mark felt a bit uneasy, he couldn't put a finger on why, "Well, call me, I'll call you, to talk about Sally, that's the name of the girl. Sally."

"I will bro, I will. Wish you were here already! Just don't tell mom and dad how I got the vacation, they already worry too much about me."

"Night."

"Love ya!"

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"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Mark loomed over Sally with his tall frame, and held out a plastic tray for her mug.

"Can I have tea instead?" Sally looked up smiling, she held her mug up for him to collect.

Mark responded sternly, "Not in this particular scenario no."

Sally was confused as she was certain there was plenty of tea in the kitchen, "Oh okay, you guys don't have tea?"

"We do have tea, both traditional black tea and a selection of flavour- infused herbal teas." Mark said with great precision, but still refusing to take her mug.

"Black tea will do fine, thank you Mark." Sally said resolutely, trying to place her mug on his tray.

Mark pulled back the tray and responded sternly, "Sally, black tea is not an option, only coffee is available in this scenario. You look pretty by the way, especially in that dress."

Sally looked at Mark looming over her. She had decided to come to work wearing a knee-length dress which showed a little cleavage.

"Thank you Mark."

"It effectively displays your attributes." Mark looked at her breathing heavier, his gaze flickering to her cleavage.

Sally began to blush and grow hot from Mark's focus, as his eyes casually surveyed her body, "Tha-thank you, Mark."

"I cannot ask you to be my girlfriend as I ought to take it easy." Mark said repeating what Lillith had suggested.

"Oh, okay. Well never mind."

Mark stood there looming, and Sally, not wanting to be rude by turning her chair kept her gaze shyly on his legs, but then they travelled a bit further up and she caught the distinctive bulge in his trousers. She blinked in shock and looked up at him, thoroughly startled.

Blimey, Sally thought.

But just as she was about to say something Nina swung by cradling a box of doughnuts and punched Mark's arm, throwing his footing slightly off balance, "I'll have a coffee, white, six sugars. Hey, would you like a doughnut? Got a dozen here, just don't take the one with the maple topping as it's mine."

Mark picked up Nina's cup and then sped off to the kitchen having being rudely awoken from his amorous daze.

You just showed Sally your arousal! What would Lillith say, call Lillith now.

Nina looked at Sally and smiled knowingly, "Eye spy an admirer, with a total hard on! Reminds me of when Alistair, the templar night from Dragon Age, had a hard-on so big it showed through his chainmail."

Sally frowned in distress and started tapping out a query in command line, "Do they really allow that in video games these days?"

"No, just a little mod I created for the gameplayer community. So, what do you think? Liking Mark already? He's hot isn't he? You're a lucky girl, Mark doesn't tend to shine his light on mere humans, he likes, robots. Really likes robots."

"He mentioned something about my hair reminding him of copper piping." Sally recalled.

"Smooth, that's Mark. So ask him out to dinner right?"Nina said casually.

Sally looked dubiously at Nina, "I don't know, I don't think that's a great idea."

"If you don't ask him out, I'll ask him out, now that I have discovered he is into human women." Nina said blithely.

"You can't do that!"

"Yeah I can, and he'll say yes when I tell him I have a life-sized version of the Tachikoma robot in my bedroom."

Sally watched as Nina ruminated on her doughnut in a bovine fashion, her face earnest in its seriousness.

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"Lillith, please pick up for the fourteenth time, this is an emergency. I initiated the coffee cup scenario, however I also accidentally displayed my arousal to Sally. I don't know what to do! Call back!" Mark said frantically to Lillith's voicemail. He was genuinely perplexed by Lillith's non-response as Lillith, eventually, always picked up for him.

Ryan came padding in, yawning, his face puffy from a lack of sleep. Ryan had come in late which was unusual for him. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again, before giving Mark a funny look.

"Oh, uh, hi, hi Mark, how are you doing?" Ryan didn't look Mark in the eye. Mark felt mildly pleased by the avoidance of eye contact as Ryan's gaze was intense and made him feel funny.

"I cannot get through to Lillith, and I wish to speak to her as a matter of urgency. She's on a holiday remarkably similar to the one I told you I wanted to get for her birthday." Mark said anxiously.

Ryan cleared his throat, "I wouldn't worry about Lillith, I am sure she is fine, very fine, so uh, I've been thinking it's not fair that you, have to work in a distracting open-planned office, when we have that meeting room which no one ever uses. You should move there, I will get you anything you want, the latest machinery, the most ergonomic chairs. Everything!" Ryan said hurriedly.

"Okay, but ask Gunther too." Mark said unblinkingly.

"Yeah, sure, sure. So, don't worry about anything, because there is nothing to worry about."

"Okay, thank you Ryan." Mark was not actually that excited, though the idea of ergonomic chairs and new computers perked him up a little. Perhaps he could also invite Sally into his new office and show her stuff.

"Can I invite Sally into my office and show her stuff?"

Ryan coughed before replying, "Uh, look, why don't you just ask her out first? If she says no, then I think you should leave it and focus on other women, preferably ones outside of the workplace."

"Okay."

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Mark resolutely walked over to Sally's table, Sally turned her chair and looked up at him, "Sally, please go out with me, for a date."

Sally looked at Nina, Nina glared back, Sally then looked at Mark and said, "Okay, where shall we go?"

"I don't know, would you like to come round to my flat?"

Sally frowned, "Or maybe a restaurant or the cinema for the first date?"

Mark screwed his lips up, "No, no, I don't think so, if you come to my flat, then there are numerous intimate activities we can engage in that would be unsuitable for the public gaze."

Nina chuckled and shook her head as she worked.

Sally gave Mark a stern look before her gaze softened, she sighed."We'll go to a restaurant in town, you can pick which one as I eat anything. Collect me from outside the Public library at half-past seven and take me to wherever you've chosen. I think that's reasonable."

Mark smiled, "Oh, um, okay. So, are you enjoying work?"

Sally looked uncertain, "I would enjoy it a whole lot more in Ryan would tell me exactly what I am supposed to be doing. Is he here?"

"Yes, he came in late, he looks sick."

"Hungover." Nina said knowingly.

Sally crinkled her forehead in concern, "Oh dear, maybe I'll leave it until tomorrow."

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Mark waited by the San Francisco Public library, worried about how he was dressed as Lillith was still not picking up and therefore could not advise him. In her absence, he had googled for ideas and decided to go with a tuxedo, as was favoured by James Bond who always seemed to attract women. He also bought some roses as women found that romantic, though he did not know why dying plants would stir such joyful emotions.

Sally approached Mark, wearing a deep red dress that was just past her knees and her red hair loose around her shoulders. When her earnest green eyes set sight on Mark she had to blink twice. He stood there in a tuxedo clutching a large bouquet of roses that throbbed in the evening breeze. Mark was shuffling his feet like he was about to break into a jig. Still, tall, dark, and excessively groomed, he looked achingly handsome.

Mental, you must be bloody mental. When this all goes tits up just you wait to see how much fun it will be crawling into work. Sally thought, kicking herself. Day two and she was already not-so-subconsciously imagining being ravished by her eccentric colleague.

Mark smiled widely and thrust out the huge rose bouquet to Sally, "Hello Sally, I bought you these flowers."

Sally smiled sweetly, "They are very lovely Mark." She did not want to tell him that it would make walking around an awkward experience.

Sally assessed Mark's tuxedo, admiring how his masculine physique filled it out, "You look very nice, but maybe for tonight you can go for a more casual look." Sally, feeling slightly lusty and bold stood on her tip toes, and reaching over, detached Mark's bow tie and slipped it into his pocket; he shifted in surprise. She then swiftly unbuttoned a top button, her pale fingers momentarily brushing his dusky skin, he exhaled and gazed at her curiously.

"Sally, you look beautiful by the way." Mark gazed at her intensely, his brown eyes drinking in her creamy contours.

"And you're not half bad yourself. Roses, tuxedo, very dashing, so which restaurant have you selected?"

"McDonald's" Mark smiled proudly, "Heard of the film Robobatics? They're giving away limited-edition collectibles with their kids meal deals."

Sally looked at Mark aghast, he has Aspergers, he has Aspergers, be patient with him.

Sally responded calmly, "I don't know Mark, that's a very busy, noisy place, I would prefer somewhere a bit quieter, where we could probably share a glass of wine perhaps?"

Mark looked at Sally, a glint of something in his eye, "Then come back to mine. There is a Chinese takeaway close to my home."

No, not for a first date, and if you go back to his home goodness know what he might do, he might ravish you, Sally considered.

Sally smiled at Mark, "That's not a bad idea."

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Mark carried the takeaways back to his flat grinning triumphantly as he did so. He averted his gaze to the sexily dressed redhead by his side.

Mark tried to make some natural-sounding conversation, "So, how are you finding our work environment?"

Sally gazed at him thoughtfully, "It could be worse, though a bit more direction would be nice, still, I began looking at how I might migrate the database, and the web services that we have which are dependent on the database as it stands, obviously I don't want to affect those too much. What do you think of work?"

Mark saw the stoop of his flat, "I find it engrossing, particularly the programming. Gunther is great to work with, and Ryan is a really good boss, though he hates my sister and she hates him."

Sally looked concerned, "Oh, how come?"

"They went to school together, my sister and her friend bullied him, so he left school. But my sister says he used to be mean to her too, so I believe her."

"Well, both could be true, perhaps she bullied him because he was mean to her or vice versa. How did it all begin?"

Mark approached the stoop and climbed up, and with one hand located his keys and opened the door, "Something to do with a letter, I don't know. Here we are; my flat is on the top floor."

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Sally was actually pleasantly surprised by Mark's flat. She expected something disorderly and crazy, but it was actually incredibly neat though it was coated in lots of robotic figurines, posters and on his coffee table there was a robotic hand with components and circuitry strewn around it.

They sat and chatted as they ate, with Mark telling her about all the fictional robots he liked and why.

When they finished Sally got up to wash the cutlery, she felt Mark come behind her and hug her, then she felt his large dark hands travel from her rib cage up her red dress until they were under her cleavage. Sally inhaled sharply as she soaped up the cutlery and felt Mark draw closer. He swept away her hair from the nape of her neck and gently bit the lobe of her ear. Sally moaned and felt her pussy moisten as Mark squeezed her breasts through her dress, and pressed his hard on against her back. Both their breathing grew heavier.

"Oh Mark." Sally whimpered, her eyelids lowering from desire.

Mark pressed his erection against Sally, wishing to tear off her clothes and mount her from behind against the sink; he huskily groaned out, "We should have sex."

Sally's eyelids flipped open immediately and placing her hands over his she pulled his hand away and turned around, Mark looked puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Sally edged away though Mark followed her pinning her against his kitchen counter, his erection was still very much there, "I don't want to have sex right now."

Mark stepped back, "Okay, if you do not want to have sex, go home, now." Mark remembered what his sister had told him about not forcing himself on women, even in difficult situations, but with Sally it was more difficult for him, because she was so beautiful. He needed her out of the house right away and he needed to not be in the same room as her.

"Go!" he repeated again coldly.

Tears pricked Sally's eyes and she pushed up her bottom lip upset, "You don't want to talk?"

Mark wanted to do anything but talk to Sally, "No, please leave."

Sally felt the tears roll down and she sniffled in upset, "How could you do this to me when I like you, I really like you."

She grabbed her handbag, looked at Mark, shook her head, and walked out.

Mark feeling overwhelmed by a rush of emotions felt regretful, but, undressing hurriedly as he did so, he wandered into the shower and began to stroke his long, thick bronzed cock for relief, as streams of water beat down upon his body.

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The next day at work Sally did whatever she could to avoid Mark. The same way she avoided him the hours after their unfortunate encounter. When he came to talk to her she would duck around the corner, pretend to rummage through her handbag for non-existent important items, and just generally keep busy.

But there was only so much avoiding that could be done, and by lunchtime, she had exhausted herself.

"Sally.", Mark said longingly behind Sally as Sally was wandering down the office.

Hesitantly Sally turned round and caught him looking at her, his face puzzled, "You didn't call me back."

"No, I mean yes, I mean, no I didn't return your calls. Sorry." Sally tensed up. She felt unease as he approached, their colleagues around them to hear whatever details he would not worry about conveying to them loudly.

"It was nearly a good night, we could try it again?" He said, his eyes flicking over her. He wanted to tell her that the reason it had nearly been a good night but not quite was due to the lack of intercourse, but he recalled advise that Lillith had given him regarding the appropriate topics to discuss with his colleagues in a work environment.

Sally blushed and clearing her throat approached him, "No, I don't think so Mark, we're colleagues, and there are boundaries there."

She turned around but him repeat her name, "Sally."

She sighed and turned around again, "No Mark. Please, just stop, stop. Not here in front of everyone."

Mark looked at her eyes which pleaded with him not to say anything, to be discrete. He did not know what to do, but do as she said, just stop.