"Do you have anything sweet?" he asked, glancing briefly over the girl's jacket.

"I have not," Emily pointed her finger in the direction of the coffee bar, where there was a vending machine with snacks, "And there is something over there."

Evans turned his head and whistled contentedly, "You're doing pretty well here."

"Actually, YOU are doing pretty well here."

Don't you even dare tell me that you were not aware of where everything is!

"Choose whichever you like best, Mr. Evans. There is a large assortment here," she led him to a vending machine, behind the glass of which were all kinds of snacks and chocolate bars.

"Oh, I don't even know… There's such a choice…," the man began to look at the window with such a serious face as if he was choosing a wedding ring and not a portion of fast carbohydrates. "What do you like more?"

"I don't like that," Emily replied. It was not clear from her face whether she was talking about sweet or something else.

But Justin Evans was not at all embarrassed by the girl's indifferent expression. "Oh, I'll eat this one!" he jabbed a finger at a nearby candy bar and looked expectantly at Hayes.

"What?" she did not understand his silent request. He was clearly hinting at something.

"I have no money with me."

"Me too," Emily deadpanned.

Evans pursed his lips. Laughing or what?

"But you have a key card, right? You were able to get here?"

"Y-yes," the girl could not grasp the connection between the admission to the department and the cookies in the machine.

"For the staff of the magazine, all refreshments and snacks in the machines are free. You just need to attach a pass to this scanner," the man pointed to a black window on the side of the main display.

Oh.

Emily looked at the large box of sweets with new eyes. And there really was a wide choice of different delicious sweets there! And it's free! Lonely coffee in the stomach demanded dessert.

"I did not know."

"You didn't?" the man raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Is this your first time with me? I'm flattered," he broke into a smug smile. "For everything to go smoothly, the main thing is to put the right thing in the right place and, do it very gently. Trust me, I have a lot of experience in such matters."

With a grave air, as if his words had no double connotation, he pulled her card from Emily's breast pocket and held it to the scanner, "First, light touch here, as a prelude." The scanner beeped and highlighted a narrow window on the main display, "Then carefully insert this thing inside, everything is ready for it," Evans tucked the card into the slot of the device, "Then you decide what kind of treat you want in the end. Press the button and voila, you're done!"

The man poked his finger at the nearest chocolate bar, the vending machine made a beep, pushed the selected product forward, and it fell into the dispensing compartment.

"You can enjoy a well-deserved dessert!" Justin winked at Emily and put his hand in the window to pick up the chocolate bar.

A second passed, then another one, but the man remained standing in the same position.

"What is it, Mr. Evans?" Emily clarified, with obviously feigned empathy in her voice, "Couldn't finish it?"

"Ahaha, Miss Hayes, I admire your sense of humor."

"Oh, common, Mr. Evans, it's just your joking manners passed on to me. So what's up?" she squatted down next to him, trying not to think about the embarrassing pictures in her head that betrayed her imagination.

The man made several attempts to get the selected product, but all was in vain.

"This thing is stuck and I can't reach it. Maybe you can try?" he suggested.

Or maybe you just go home? Emily wanted to suggest in return. Then she would not suddenly recall in detail the plots of the novels which she read during the day.

"Okay, move over."

She put her hand through the narrow window. The chocolate got stuck on the panel above it, so it didn't fall down as it should. The girl felt the corner of the bar and pulled it towards herself. The bar moved well at first but soon got stuck again.

"Well, how is it going? Is it coming out?" Emily felt Justin's breath in her ear. The man leaned closer and pretended to look inside the window.

"Almost," she managed to say. From unplanned physical activity (and not from the presence of someone!) the girl became hot.

Hayes pressed her lips together tightly, wrapped her fingers around the accessible end of the chocolate and pulled it sharply towards herself.

But the girl did not take into account that she was wearing heels, and sudden movements in such shoes, and even in a tight skirt, could have consequences.

Emily lost her balance and plopped down on her ass with all her might, simultaneously catching the boss and knocking him down on the floor.

"Damn it," she swore, rubbing her soft spot.

"Miss Hayes! Are you okay? No bruise, no fracture? We urgently need to check everything!" Evans was not taken aback and also checked her bruised place, "Everything is fine here. Let's check other areas!"

"Mr. Evans!" Emily turned her head abruptly and immediately slammed her forehead into the man's.

"Ouch!"

Stars flew from her eyes. At least she saw them behind the lenses of her glasses.

"Miss Hayes, we have to go to the hospital! What if you have a concussion?!"

"I have no concussion!" Emily took off her glasses and wiped her eyes, which were filled with tears. The stupid mascara from the moisture that got on it began to pinch her eyes, causing even more tears.

"How many fingers am I showing?" asked a blurred picture of the boss.

The girl narrowed her eyes, "Three."

"How many do you see now?" the picture suddenly became clear and very close. "How many now?"

"Three," she swallowed.

"And now?" He was so close now that Emily could see the dark lashes behind the gray eyes. Her heart beat faster. Apparently, the consequences of an unexpected fall.

"T-two," she said and froze.

"Well done," the sounds of low timbre went chills over the girl's skin.

There was a strange tug at the bottom of her belly. Apparently, the consequences of hunger.

She could feel his breath on her face and the slight scent of menthol. Cologne? Shaving foam? Chewing gum?

"What's going on here?"

The scent of menthol vanished as if swept away by the wind.

Emily put on her glasses and looked up. Catherine was standing in front of her and looking with curiosity at the couple sprawled on the floor.

"We decided to have some tea with chocolate. Want to keep us company, Miss Joyce?" Justin found what to say, without the slightest hint of embarrassment in his voice. As if they were already sitting and nobly drinking tea, and not lying on the floor in a compromising position.

Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. For some reason, she felt that tomorrow at work new colleagues would look at her again with a strange look. And this time people will have all the reasons for it.