Chapter 35 - Different Kind of Problem
By twenty-five, I had developed a problem.
Not a bad problem.
Arguably an excellent problem.
Too many attractive women wanted to have dinner with me.
I understood this was not a complaint anyone would take seriously.
Still.
Scheduling had become—
annoying.
Celine wanted Thursday.
Celeste wanted Friday.
Audrey was free Sunday afternoon.
I stared at my calendar.
Then at myself.
Then back at the calendar.
This was absurd.
I had once spent thirty-three years single.
Now apparently I needed romantic capacity planning.
I opened my notebook.
Then immediately closed it.
No.
Absolutely not.
I was not building a dating spreadsheet.
There were limits.
Celeste sent—
friday 7?
I replied—
yes
Then—
holding hands included?
I stared.
celeste
clarifying scope
I laughed.
probably
probably is not compliant
Fuck her.
yes
Immediate reply:
approved
I put my phone down.
Dangerous woman.
Friday was easy again.
Too easy.
Celeste met me outside the restaurant.
No dramatic greeting.
Just—
"Hi."
"Hi."
Then she held out her hand.
I looked at it.
Then at her.
She smiled.
"Verified."
I laughed and took it.
Apparently we had skipped the part where holding hands required discussion every time.
Fine.
I liked it.
Dinner.
Walking.
Coffee after.
Then another kiss before we separated.
Requested.
Approved.
Very responsible.
Very annoying.
Celeste was building momentum.
I could feel it.
She could too.
That was probably why she looked so satisfied all the time.
Before leaving, she asked—
"You still seeing the others?"
"Yes."
"Good."
I looked at her.
"Good?"
"I don't want you choosing me because I'm familiar."
That stopped me.
Celeste shrugged.
"We already did almost before."
College.
Flowers.
Mara.
Uncertainty.
Right.
She continued—
"If you choose me eventually, I want it because you actually want me now."
There.
No joke.
I looked at her.
"That's fair."
"I know."
Of course.
Then she smiled.
"Also I plan to be difficult to beat."
I laughed.
"There is no competition."
"Sure."
"Celeste."
"Goodnight."
"It is nine-fifteen."
She walked away laughing.
Classic.
Then Monday gave me Victoria Reyes.
Not romantically.
Not yet.
Professionally.
Which somehow made things worse.
Julia introduced us.
Her organization had started planning a larger digital ordering and fulfillment setup.
Not just printing anymore.
They wanted a cleaner internal workflow.
Request forms.
Approvals.
Status tracking.
Branch or department visibility.
Eventually integration with vendors.
I handled the print/fulfillment side.
Their tech team brought in someone from a product consultancy.
Victoria.
Twenty-six.
Product manager.
Tech.
Smart enough to immediately ask the questions everyone else had skipped.
I noticed that before I noticed anything else.
Which was saying something.
Because—
very pretty.
Different from Celeste.
Less polished-formal.
More—
clean.
Sharp.
Effortless.
The kind of person who looked like she had already read the meeting notes before arriving.
Dangerous.
Julia introduced us.
"Lia, Victoria Reyes."
Victoria smiled.
"Tori."
I shook her hand.
"Lia."
"I've heard about you."
I stared at Julia.
Julia laughed.
"Business."
Victoria smiled slightly.
"Mostly."
Suspicious.
The meeting started.
Within fifteen minutes, Tori asked—
"Who actually owns approval?"
Julia answered.
Then Tori asked—
"Who thinks they own approval?"
Silence.
I looked at her.
She looked at me.
There.
That was a good question.
Julia laughed.
"Different answer."
"Exactly."
I smiled.
Oh.
Interesting.
We mapped the current process.
Request.
Approval.
Revision.
Vendor coordination.
Production.
Delivery.
Confirmation.
On paper—
simple.
In reality—
people bypassed steps.
Approvers changed things after approval.
Departments messaged vendors directly.
Some requests lived in email.
Some chat.
Some spreadsheets.
Some—
apparently—
inside people's heads.
Tori looked at the flow.
"This isn't a workflow."
Julia sighed.
"I know."
"It's folklore."
I laughed.
Tori looked at me.
"You agree?"
"Deeply."
There.
Good.
We spent another hour untangling it.
I explained production constraints.
Tori translated them into system rules.
I pointed out where clients usually created rushes.
She identified where approval states needed locking.
I said—
"If the final approver can edit after production starts, you're going to create rework."
She nodded.
"So lock after production release."
"With controlled exception."
"Exactly."
Julia looked between us.
"You two are enjoying this too much."
I looked at her.
"It's fixable."
Tori:
"That is apparently her love language."
I turned.
"What?"
She smiled.
"Julia warned me."
I stared at Julia.
Traitor.
After the meeting, Tori stayed while everyone else packed up.
I was reviewing notes.
She looked over.
"You're going to change that workflow, aren't you?"
"Which part?"
"The handoff between approval and production."
"Yes."
She smiled.
"I knew it."
"How?"
"You made the face."
I froze.
No.
Absolutely not.
Not another person with pattern recognition.
"What face?"
"The one where you've already redesigned something mentally."
I stared.
Then laughed.
"Maybe."
She nodded.
"Thought so."
We ended up talking another twenty minutes.
Not because we needed to.
Mostly business.
Some career.
She had worked in tech for several years.
Product.
Operations-heavy systems.
Liked complicated problems.
Hated meetings that existed only because nobody wanted to make a decision.
Excellent.
She asked about my background.
"Science Education?"
"Yes."
She stared.
"How did you get here?"
"Poor career planning."
She laughed.
"No, seriously."
"Business happened."
"That's a very suspicious answer."
"It's the accurate one."
She smiled.
"Fair."
Then she asked—
"Do you always work this much?"
I frowned.
"This much?"
"You have several businesses."
"I don't work crazy hours."
She looked unconvinced.
"I leave."
"What time?"
"Usually six."
Her expression changed.
"Actually?"
"Yes."
"Good."
I stared.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You sound surprised."
"I meet too many founders who think burnout is branding."
Oh.
I liked that sentence.
"I already tried that."
"When?"
I smiled.
"Previous era."
"Did it work?"
"Financially?"
"Yes."
"Personally?"
"No."
She nodded.
"Then good lesson."
Something about the way she said it—
no praise.
No inspirational speech.
Just—
good lesson.
I liked that too.
Annoying.
We separated.
No number exchanged personally.
No flirting.
Probably.
Just work.
Good.
Safe.
Then Tori messaged me the next morning.
Professional channel.
I updated the workflow draft. Can you check production assumptions?
Normal.
I reviewed it.
Good.
Very good.
I replied with three notes.
She responded—
agree on 1 and 3. disagree on 2
I stared.
Interesting.
why
She explained.
Clear.
Logical.
She was right.
I changed it.
Then typed—
fair
She replied:
that easy?
you were right
Pause.
dangerous trait
I smiled.
being correct?
admitting someone else is
I laughed.
Okay.
Maybe slightly flirty.
No.
Not enough.
No intent verification needed.
Yet.
That Friday, Celeste noticed.
Of course.
We were having dinner when my phone buzzed.
I glanced.
Tori.
Project message.
Celeste saw the name.
"Tori?"
"Work."
"What work?"
I explained.
Celeste nodded.
Then—
"Pretty?"
I stared.
"Why are you Jane now?"
She smiled.
"Answer."
"No."
"That means yes."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't need to."
I sighed.
Celeste took a sip.
"Very pretty?"
I stared.
"Can we discuss your tutorial plans?"
She laughed.
"Very pretty."
I hated observant women.
Then she smiled.
"You're interested."
"I met her once."
"You've dated people after meeting them once."
Fair.
"She's a work contact."
"For now."
I stared.
Celeste shrugged.
"Relax. I'm not jealous."
"Good."
"I'm competitive."
I closed my eyes.
"There is no competition."
"Sure."
Then she reached across the table.
Palm up.
I looked.
She smiled.
"Verified?"
I took her hand.
"Yes."
Her smile turned smug.
Very smug.
I had made a mistake somewhere.
Tori and I met again the next week.
Work.
Still work.
Mostly.
The system project had moved into testing.
We sat beside each other reviewing screens.
Tori pointed.
"If they can skip this field, they will."
"Make it required."
"That creates garbage data if they don't know the answer."
I paused.
Good point.
"Conditional."
She nodded.
"Exactly."
I looked at her.
"You're annoying."
She smiled.
"You like me."
I froze.
She froze too.
Tiny pause.
Then—
"As a product person."
There.
Correction.
Safe.
I looked back at the screen.
"Dangerous wording."
Tori laughed.
"Noted."
Interesting.
Later, we got coffee because the meeting ran long.
Still professional.
Technically.
She paid for hers.
I paid for mine.
No date.
No confusion.
We sat.
Tori asked—
"You dating anyone?"
There.
I looked at her.
"That sounds non-professional."
"It is."
Clear enough.
Good.
"Dating casually."
She nodded.
"Multiple?"
"Yes."
No judgment.
Just—
"Fun?"
I laughed.
"Surprisingly."
"Good."
Then she took a drink.
"I don't have the energy for vague dating."
I stared.
Oh no.
"What does that mean?"
"If I like someone, I tell them."
Danger.
My Reset 2 policies began waking up.
I asked—
"Are you telling me something?"
Tori looked at me.
Then smiled.
Not embarrassed.
Not evasive.
"Not yet."
I stared.
"Not yet?"
"We're still working together."
Fair.
Then—
"But I'm saying I don't flirt accidentally."
Well.
Fuck.
Clear.
Very clear.
Not technically flirting.
But definitely a warning label.
I liked her already.
That was—
inconvenient.
I told Jane and Chloe nothing.
Important.
Not because I was hiding Tori.
Because there was nothing to report.
Yet.
Unfortunately, Julia ruined that.
She knew Jane through some unrelated school connection by then.
Small world.
Bulacan.
Dangerous.
Somehow, Jane messaged me—
who is tori
I stared.
No.
Absolutely not.
why
julia mentioned her
Traitor.
work
pretty?
I closed my eyes.
How had this joke returned without the original Celeste audit?
jane
Then Chloe:
very pretty?
I stared at the group chat.
WHY ARE YOU BOTH LIKE THIS
Jane:
answer
I typed—
yes
Immediate response:
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Chloe:
interesting
Of course.
Celeste messaged separately five minutes later.
tori?
I froze.
HOW DO YOU KNOW
jane
I stared at the ceiling.
Information governance failure.
Severe.
nothing is happening
Celeste:
yet
I hated that word.
Then—
friday?
I smiled despite myself.
yes
date?
yes
Then—
kiss?
I stared.
celeste
clarifying scope
I laughed.
ask me friday
She reacted with—
??
God help me.
By the end of the month, I had four women in different categories.
Celeste—
very active.
Very interested.
History.
Hands.
Kisses.
Momentum.
Celine—
fun.
Flirty.
Easy.
Still casual.
Audrey—
slower.
Steady.
Good conversation.
Still exploring.
And Victoria—
not dating me.
Not flirting.
Apparently.
Just standing directly outside the dating pool holding a sign that said—
I don't flirt accidentally.
Excellent.
Different kind of problem.
And for the first time in my life—
I was excited to find out what happened next.