Broken Circuits (VeeMark)

Chapter Three

''Damn it," Vee cursed as his computer froze again, moving to turn it on and off.

When the computer booted back up, it was just a blank blue screen. No text or anything. He tried pressing some of the buttons on the keyboard, but nothing happened.

"Ugh!" He groaned, dropping his head in his hands.

Vee had a deadline to meet and he only had a few hours left. His frustration with his computer had been building for a few days now, but he hadn't had time to have it checked. Yes, Vee worked for a tech company and he barely knew the basics. The problem was beyond turning it off and on again, so Vee decided to call the IT department.

Unfortunately, it appeared that there were problems with several computers on the fifth floor. Some idiot had turned off the firewalls and the computers were now teeming with viruses. All hands-on-deck were necessary to resolve this issue so there was no one available to fix Vee's computer.

"I can call someone from another department who might have the expertise if you need your computer urgently," the woman on the phone murmured.

Vee could vaguely hear typing in the background and assumed that she was also simultaneously busy with the problem on the fifth floor. He was very annoyed but restrained his anger because he knew it wasn't her fault that the IT department was so busy.

"I would appreciate that thanks. Good luck with the fifth-floor computers."

Vee was messing around on his mobile phone when he heard the distinctive sound of a knock at the door. Hardly anyone visited his office, except for Bar, but he would just walk in without knocking, so it was likely the person who came to fix his computer.

"Come in," Vee called, walking towards the door.

When the door opened, he stopped in surprise. Mark was standing there with a shocked expression. They hadn't seen in each other in nearly two weeks. When Vee had decided to leave Mark alone, he had meant it.

"Oh, Mark, hello," Vee quickly tried to recover and be his usual charming self.

"Hey," Mark greeted him, stepping inside and heading to the desk, "I heard there was a broken computer here?"

"Yeah. Stupid thing keeps freezing and now there's just a blue screen."

"I'll have a look."

"Thanks, I have a deadline so I'm a little stressed."

Mark glanced up at Vee from his seat in the office chair behind the desk. Vee was leaning against the desk with his hip, giving off a relaxed air, but Mark could see a tightness around Vee's mouth and his hair was a little wild like he had kept running his hands through it.

"I'll try to be quick."

Vee blinked, his lips parting slightly, a little stunned. Mark had never been so polite or, dare he say it, nice before. He hesitated but then decided to leave Mark to it and get them both some coffee. From the previous times they had met, Vee knew that Mark was more easily irritated if he was interrupted while working.

When Vee returned, he remained quiet, poking his head around behind Mark's to look at the screen which was now black with green text running down it.

"Mark, hey, I brought you some coffee," Vee whispered, trying not to disturb him, while holding out the cup for Mark to take.

"Thanks," Mark murmured, not even looking away from the screen, and lifted a hand up to hold the coffee, the other still darting over the keyboard.

Chuckling, Vee carefully placed the cup in Mark's hand, not letting go until he was sure Mark had a strong grip. He didn't know why he found this action of Mark's amusing, but he did. Mark took a sip then continued holding it, working on the computer one-handed. His typing was still fast, impressing Vee.

"Vee, our mortal enemy has stolen one of our clients!" Bar yelled, opening the office door with such force it slammed off the wall.

Mark jumped, nearly dropping his cup of coffee, but Vee moved fast, leaning over from behind him and grabbing the bottom of it. They ended up with Vee almost hugging Mark's neck, his head close to Mark's.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" Bar smirked, his tone stern but also teasing.

Vee rolled his eyes, languidly moving away from Mark to stand in front of his desk.

"This is Mark. He's doing me a favour and fixing my computer for me."

"Oh. Wait, Mark?"

"Yes," Vee almost hissed, warning Bar with his eyes to stop talking.

Vee turned around to see Mark eyeing them curiously and gestured for him to stand up and come over to them.

"Mark, this is Bar, my friend and the CEO. Bar, this is Mark, one of our newest employees from Product Development."

"Nice to you meet you," Bar said politely, sticking his hand out.

Mark seemed to be panicking, almost frozen on the spot. Vee found it both funny and concerning and decided to help Mark out.

He placed his arm lightly around Mark's waist, patted him gently on the back and leaned in, whispering, "Say it back and shake his hand."

"Uh, nice to meet you too," Mark croaked out, a slight tremor in his voice as he shook Bar's hand.

Bar raised an eyebrow at Vee, flicking his eyes down to the arm around Mark and back up again. Vee felt his cheeks heat, indicating that he was blushing. He cursed in his head. It had been a long time since he had blushed, in fact, he couldn't remember the last time. Why was it happening now?

"I'll get back, to the, uh, computer now," Mark muttered, rushing back to the office chair.

"Alright, what did our mortal enemy do now?" Vee asked, leading Bar to the comfy sofa.

"You won't believe this..."