Having spent a few moments in the hallway to collect myself I slowly waddle towards the kitchen. What just happened? Brain working in overdrive once again, in what has only been a few minutes as it's trying to tell me why it felt like she had her own gravitational field. Her pull being magnetic on everyone's attention. Taking out two mugs I fill up one cup halfway, starting on the second before my mind wanders back to that first time our eyes met. Her eyes were so blue and profound, like she holds the answers to the universe behind them. The way she walked, the way she didn't even face at an entire room staring at her in daze. I couldn't ever hold up under that kind of intense pressure. I'm having trouble talking to more than a couple of people, and don't even get me started on authority figures. I just took this job to work on my knowledge in AI and technology, satiating my endless curiosity for these kinds of subjects.
"Excuse me, you do realize you're overflowing?"
Huh? My attention leaves dreamworld and snaps back to reality as I stare confused at the woman besides me. She proceeds to tilt her head in the direction of my coffee cup, which was filled to the brim probably a dozen seconds ago. "OH! I'm so sorry. My..um..attention was...somewhere else." My voice tapering off to a barely heard whisper towards the end of my sentence. Oh my god I'd been thinking about Alicia so long that I spilled half the can. In a rush to get paper towels I manage to splash a good dash of coffee onto my now not-so pink blouse, staining it with a dark brown over my chest.
Grabbing a few paper towels I then spend the next few minutes cleaning up my mess on the bench, before squatting down and cleaning up the floor.
"Eleanor, why are you on the floor?"
Oh wow, complete body paralyzation. I turn my head around as the sound of rusted gears play in my head. Oh goddess. There stands Alicia looking at me with a perplexed expression. "I uh...spilled some coffee." My voice is filled with embarrassment and I'm sure it's equally displayed on my cheeks and probably anywhere else visible on my body. I follow her gaze and notice the dark stain on my blouse.
"Do you need any help? You were gone for so long I wondered what happened, this is not what I expected." Her voice is devoid of any emotion, and I can feel my eyes start to tear up as I expect the eventual scolding. After a few seconds of keeping my eyes closed to somehow keep tears from running, I hear a barely audible giggle. My eyes open to see an amused expression on her face.
"Oh, uh, no I'm fine, thank you. I just um, got myself distracted and spilled some coffee." Gosh dangit, here I was trying to get away from you. Shoo, shoo you succubus, stop drawing me into your spell. "I'll just buy another shirt and get it delivered by drone, should be here in 15 minutes." Trying to get my mind off Alicia and her explosive effect on people, I turn my attention to my wristband, pulling up the holographic screen and ordering a new blouse.
15 minutes later and I'm standing in the bathroom, changed out of my stained clothes. After checking that the fit is okay and it doesn't look weird, I waddle back to my workplace in a slight daze. So much for getting time to cool down. Arriving at my desk there's something tugging at my mind, like when you walk into a room and forget what you were supposed to do there in the first place. I glance over at Alicia's desk and realization dawns on me. "Oh crap, I forgot the coffee."
For the third time today I hear a low chuckle behind me. Oh that chuckle does things to me but I just can't comprehend or put my finger on exactly what it does. Turning around I see Alicia standing there with two coffee cups in hand.
"I wasn't sure if you wanted milk, but I sort of just assumed you didn't want any." Her eyes are dancing around my body, trying to catch a glimpse of...something. As her eyes meet mine I can feel that slow pull again, like she's looking at me naked, understanding the very essence of my soul. I just slowly give her a nod and what I think is a smile in thanks, taking the coffee cup she's presenting to me.
We both get back to work and the rest of the day is uneventful, apart from the few times Alicia asks something and my brain has to shut down and reboot everytime. I really don't know what's going to happen working with this attention grabbing succubus, but I have a feeling she's going to rope me into some antics I'd rather go without.
