Chapter Five
Candy
Candy really wished someone had warned her about how bad the hangover from alien liquor would be.
Luckily, she didn’t feel physically sick, but the pounding in her head was blinding.
The sunlight streaming through her window only made matters worse, and she squinted against it as she tapped her comm.
Veterok-III was closer to Kratos’ sun than Earth was to its own sun, and she definitely hadn’t adjusted to it yet.
Shit. Her interview was in an hour. She probably shouldn’t be late, regardless of the choices she’d made last night.
She really needed to shower–her body still bore all the evidence of her activities from the night before. She remembered hastily wiping Votra’s cum from her chest, but she hadn’t been all that thorough.
The alien responsible for Candy’s sticky body was nowhere to be found, but her comm flashed with a new message.
Hello Candy, this is Votra. From last night. I got your contact information from Xyxy. I apologize for leaving so abruptly. My work mornings generally start quite early, and I did not want to disturb you. Thank you for last night. I will not forget it any time soon.
But did Votra want to see her again? She perched on the edge of her bed, gnawing at her thumbnail like it would give her the answer.
It was cute that Votra felt the need to clarify who she was, like Candy couldn’t remember screaming her name all night. That had easily been the best sex of her life, and Votra hadn’t even actually fucked her. The woman was so good with her tongue, she deserved an award.
She squinted against the holographic keyboard that projected above her wrist. God, it was too early for this.
its okay! you were so quiet, i didnt even notice you leaving. i had a really good night too. i have a job interview this morning but maybe we can talk later about… a little repeat of last night?
also trust me, i remember who you are. very vividly.
She shuffled into the bathroom despite the pain in her head that was finally fading to a dull ache. How pathetic was it that she was kind of sad to wash the reminder of Votra off her body in the shower? Please, get over yourself.
She dragged a brush through her hair and dressed in a nice pair of slacks, a dark red blouse and the same heels she’d worn the night before.
She didn’t even really have the time to dry her hair, which probably wouldn’t look the greatest, but she at least swiped a red lipstick on her lips before returning to her bedroom.
She did still glow with that post-sex brightness that made her tired skin look perkier than it was, so that was a plus. Thanks, Votra.
On the way out of the room, Candy almost tripped on something, yet another reminder of the night she’d had. Votra’s Phantom mask was still on the floor. She grinned to herself, picking it up and tossing it on to her bed before heading out of her room.
Until Candy deigned to buy a shuttle of her own–an expense that she really wasn’t looking forward to–she was relegated to paying for taxi shuttles, which felt a lot fancier than they really were.
Climbing into a space shuttle the size of a pick up truck but with all the sleekness of a Lamborghini made Candy feel expensive.
They were much more spacious than the taxis she hailed in Brooklyn, and they didn’t smell like old cigarettes and body odor.
Luckily, the office was in the commercial district of Veterok-III, a short fifteen minute ride from Xyxy’s apartment.
The building was unmarked, and only one shuttle was parked outside; it was shorter and stubbier than the taxi shuttle she’d just been in, with sun-bleached blue paint that chipped in places.
Candy honestly didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one.
If this were in New York, she would have turned and ran immediately.
But she was here for new experiences, so she wasn’t going to judge the creepy ass office until she walked in.
And upon walking in, it was significantly less…
murder-y. The reception area was empty, save for a receptionist-less reception desk and a couple of uncomfortable looking chairs lining one of the walls.
Maybe she was in the wrong place? “Hello?” Candy called, her voice reverberating through the empty room. “Is anyone here?”
“One moment!” came a voice from the depths of the office, and Candy froze.
That voice sounded so familiar, but there was no way… right? That definitely wasn’t–
It was Votra. “My apologies, I was–” Votra emerged from a room connected to the reception room, wearing the same slacks as last night but in a maroon button-down this time. She stopped in her tracks once her dark eyes landed on Candy.
“Hi,” Candy said, feeling as if all of the air had been punched out of her lungs. “You left your mask in my room last night.”
Of all people to fuck at Xyxy’s party, why did it have to be her potential boss? And why did she have to want to do it again? She still had those top two buttons undone, and Candy stole a greedy peek at her bare chest underneath.
“Did I?” Votra captured one of her hands in the other hand, trailing a thumb along the underside of it. “Um, my apologies. I did not mean to.”
“It’s okay.” Candy took in as deep of a breath as her lungs could hold, and suddenly, her headache was much worse than it had been when she first walked in. “Uh, we don’t have to do this. I’m sure you have other interviews lined up and–”
“No, please stay. If anything… this makes things a little bit easier, right?” Votra offered.
Actually, no. It definitely didn’t. All Candy wanted to do was lay out across this receptionist desk and let Votra have her way with her. But something told her that wasn’t something she’d be doing any time soon.
“Yeah, I guess it does.” Candy couldn’t help but notice Votra’s eyes fighting a losing battle with Candy’s boobs. She hadn’t really tried to put them on full display; they were just so big, they were kind of just always there. But she liked the attention.
Votra cleared her throat. “Well, you can follow me back to the office and we can have our conversation there.”
“Sure.” Be professional, Candy. She still didn’t really have the job yet, and as awkward as this was probably going to be, she still needed it. She just had to learn how not to lust after her boss. Easy.
She followed Votra through the door Votra had emerged from only a minute ago into yet another glaringly white room.
How didn’t this drive Votra crazy every day?
The room was rather bare, save for two desks with computer terminals on them.
Weirdly enough, Candy couldn’t tell which one was Votra’s. Both desks were completely empty.
Votra pulled the chair from one of the desks over to the other one and gestured for Candy to sit.
She did, and Votra took the other seat. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today,” Votra said primly, and Candy suppressed a smile.
It was kind of cute, how hard she was trying to be professional. “You are… Candace Murdock?”
Candy immediately grimaced. The only person who called her Candace was her mother when she was angry. “Unfortunately. I go by Candy, though.”
Votra reached into one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a data pad, scrolling through it for a second. “My apologies, I should have had this ready. I meant to look over your work history before you came in, but my morning has been a bit rushed.”
“Oh, I know.” Candy couldn’t help herself. She grinned, and Votra’s cheeks flushed. “I can go over it for you if you’d like me to.”
“Go ahead.” Votra looked up from the data pad, fingers poised to take notes. “Especially share anything that is relevant to the work I am doing here.”
“Well, I’ve never worked on a dating app before,” Candy started, lacing her fingers together.
“But two years ago, I helped my friends with their startup. DiversEats should be the first thing listed there. I helped develop an app that compiled locally owned restaurants in Brooklyn, organized them by price, and highlighted restaurants owned by people of color, immigrants, and queer people. I was in charge of the UI, which you should be able to see in my portfolio.”
“I can, yes.” Candy could see the reflection of her portfolio in Votra’s inky black eyes. “This UI is incredible. Very seamless. Simple, but effective.”
“A lot of apps are really busy these days, and not very accessible for people with screen readers or vision problems in general and I wanted to steer away from that while also making it look sleek and professional.” Candy’s chest swelled with pride.
She hadn’t been doing this long; it had been her quarter-life crisis pivot from what was supposed to be her career.
Her degree was in nursing, but she wasn’t cut out for it.
She took her work home with her every day, spent her evenings sobbing over patients that she was helpless to do anything for.
She wasn’t the kind of person that sick people could rely on.
But making an app pretty? Piece of cake.
Candy could do it in her sleep. “The next piece in my portfolio is an app that I built out entirely on my own. It was a freelance job for an online-based romance bookstore.” Her lips curved into a smile.
“If it wasn’t based on Earth, I’d tell you to check them out. ”
Votra spent more time on this one, scrolling through the prototype. “Once again, very impressive.” Candy couldn’t help but warm under her praise. “And this is all that you had in your portfolio, correct?”
“Yeah. I’m actually pretty new to this whole thing,” Candy said.
“I’ve only been doing it for two years, but on the plus side, that means I haven’t been doing it long enough to have any of my own habits.
You can teach me.” Votra finally looked up at her, and Candy flashed her what she hoped was a convincing grin.