There were two things Jack Lowry disliked more than anything else in the world; one being Brussels sprouts, the other was his brother banging on the door at the crack of dawn. The latter of which was happening at present. Jack rolled out of bed, checked to make sure he was wearing more than a pair of boxers and stumbled into the kitchen, grabbing the counter for balance as he made his way towards the backdoor. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the digital clock on the coffee maker and cringed when he realized it was in fact 6:45 a.m. and not 6:45 p.m. His hand paused in front of the door knob. He briefly considered turning around and going back to bed. The man on the other side of the door must have noticed his hesitation because the banging suddenly became louder. Jack ultimately decided that a compromise was the best solution and unlocked the door before making a U-turn in the direction of the coffee maker.

Dylan Lowry strode into the kitchen, the door slamming behind him. "You could have opened the door."

"You could have used your key instead of banging on the door," muttered Jack squinting his blue eyes at the spoon he was using to measure the coffee. He gave up on being accurate and tossed the whole thing in the filter.

"I tried to use my key but you changed the locks...again."

Jack paused and then turned on the coffee maker. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. There's an extra key for you on the hook." He shuffled to the cabinet and grabbed two mugs but then changed his mind and put one back.

"I'll have a cup too."

"You know where they're at," he grumbled.

Dylan ran his fingers through his brown hair. "If you treated your girlfriends like you treat your family it isn't any wonder that you can't maintain a relationship. So which was it this time? Obsession or revenge?"

"Neither. She was an employee." Jack lifted the carafe from the coffee maker just as it started to beep. He filled his mug to the brim before handing the nearly empty carafe to his brother. He shuffled to the table and dropped into the only chair that wasn't buried under papers.

"Gee, thanks." He replied emptying what was left into the mug he grabbed from the cabinet. "Tiffany? What happened to your rule about not dating coworkers?"

"You mean your rule?"

"Sleeping with your employee is not the best business strategy. I assume she quit then? Now what are you going to do? Rick is on paternity leave and Maddie is on her honeymoon. The deadline is in six weeks! I can't believe you...."

Jack laid his head down on the cool table. He knew better than to interrupt Dylan at times like this, it was better to wait until he wore himself out first. His brother was right about one thing though and it was stupid of him to sleep with Tiffany. Jack knew better than most that mixing business and pleasure never ended well but he still fell into the same trap time and again. He thought Tiffany was different though. All the signals implied that she wanted a long term relationship. In reality he wasn't a boyfriend but an accessory that she took out for parties. Jack chuckled to himself, imaging what he would look like if he was a designer bag when his train of thought was interrupted by Dylan loudly clearing his throat.

"Sorry did you say something? I started to tune you out sometime in the middle of your tantrum."

Dylan glared at him from over top his coffee mug. "When did you tune out? While I was calling you an imbecile? Or when I came up with a solution to your employee shortage?"

"You didn't call me an imbecile...wait, did you say you have a solution?"

"I just remembered that I know someone who is looking for some free-lance work. You know Liam Fitzpatrick?"

"Tall red head? Yeah I know him. But I thought he was a doctor or something."

"He is, but he has a sister..."

Jack was mid-sip when the realization of what was just said dawned on him. Coughing from the coffee that has just entered his windpipe, he slammed his mug on the table. "Oh no, over my dead body," he managed to sputter out before he was overtaken by another coughing fit.

Dylan leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee, and quietly waiting for his brother to catch his breath. He picked up the conversation once Jack had stopped sputtering. "Look Jack, we're running out of time and you're hard pressed to find someone as skilled on such short notice."

Jack straightened up and took a few breaths before responding. "Aside from ignoring my feelings on the matter, are you sure she will even take the job?"

"I have it on good authority that she's working freelance and is currently in between projects, so if we act quickly..."

Jack sprung from his seat. "No. Absolutely not. There is no way she and I will be able to work together without killing each other. She's a manipulator and a cheater and I refuse to work with someone like that. What if she steals my trade secrets and sells them to the competition?"

 "Now you're being irrational. You're talking about a competition that happened years ago and regardless of what you think happened during the contest you know she's a talented coder Jack. It's only temporary, just until the project is finished, and then you can go your separate ways." Dylan drained what was left of his coffee and placed the empty mug in the sink. "I'm calling her Jack. So put your big boy pants on and let's get this done."

"Fine. Call whoever you want. Call Steve Jobs for all I care." Jack tossed his mug into the sink where it collided with the mug Dylan had just laid there, making a loud clunk.

Smirking to himself, Dylan called out, "If you want I'll call Steve Jobs, but I don't think Apple has figured out how to resurrect him yet." 

Jack paused in the doorway, he knew that he should say something clever in return, but at 7:00 am his brain could only come up with an angry "Fuck you!" before he stormed off down the hall.

Charli Fitzpatrick had finally crawled into bed just as dawn was breaking. She had always been a night owl, which was one of the reasons she had recently left her job at a top media firm to work freelance. Work was far more rewarding when she was getting the credit and not her leech ex-superior. But being out on her own brought with it more difficulties than she anticipated. Unfortunately clients were few and far between and she was starting to seriously consider going back to the corporate world. Vowing to think about her career options later she grabbed the comforter and rolled into a tight ball.

This was how her brother Liam found her when he barged into her room an hour later. Another minute passed while he tried to figure out which part of the cocoon was the top and which was the bottom. But the light was dim and Charli had wrapped herself so tightly it was impossible. Sighing in defeat he walked over to the large bay windows and threw open the heavy blackout curtains. Sensing the light, the mass of blankets curled into a tighter ball.

Liam put his hands on his hips and clucked his tongue in frustration. “So this is how we’re going to play this game.” He placed his hands on what seemed to be the weakest part of the cocoon, gripped the fabric, and pulled with all his might. The desired effect was achieved when a groggy mass of red hair cried out in surprise and tumbled onto the floor with a loud thud.

Charli groaned as she sat up slowly. When the sleepy fog cleared she discovered that she wasn’t dreaming and she really was on the floor. When she looked up she saw her older brother sitting on the edge of her bed, hand covering his mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to keep himself from laughing out loud. Angrily she kicked him in the hip and he too toppled off the bed and onto the floor.

Liam rubbed his bruised hip and glared at her, “What did you do that for?”

“I could ask you the same!” She spat out as she pulled herself back onto the bed. “There are nicer ways to wake someone up you know.”

“Oh really, maybe if they worked I would try them.”

Tucking her hair behind her ear in an effort to look like a human being instead of a fuzzy tomato, Charli asked, “So what do I owe this pleasure so early in the morning?”

Liam pulled himself up and sat next to her on the bed. “I wouldn’t call 10:00am early.”

“It is if you went to bed at 9:00am.” She grabbed her blanket from the floor and flopped back onto her pillow. “If you don’t have anything important to say I’m going back to sleep.”

“Suit yourself, I guess I’ll tell Dylan you’re not interested in the job he has for you.”

“Wha…” she croaked out. She sat up and grabbed her brother’s shirt. “What did you just say?”

“I said I was going to tell Dylan you weren’t interested in the job.” He replied while prying her off his now wrinkled shirt.

“Please be serious Liam!” she pleaded as tightened her grip.

“Okay, okay, just let go of me first.”

Charli released her hold on his shirt and scooted back on the bed to give her brother some space.

“As I was saying, Dylan called a little while ago. I told you that he recently left the University to work with his brother Jack, right? Well, Jack has gotten himself into a little situation that could cost them all their current and future contracts.”

“What? How did he manage that?”

“The short answer is that he’s a very generous boss with not enough staff. Both of his designer and lead programmer are out on leave, and his part time help just quit, six weeks before a major deadline with their largest client.”

“That sucks, but what does Dylan need me for? Apps aren’t my specialty. I mean, I’ve created games, but never something utilitarian.”

“He needs you to step in to help with the coding and design aspects until the app launches in six weeks and then stay on for an additional four weeks to work on any bugs that come up after the launch.”

“Why me though?”

“He wants you because you have the skills to do it. You’re a great designer; anyone who looks at your work can tell that you know how to create a user friendly environment. And I may have mentioned to him that you recently went freelance…”

Charli crossed her arms and leaned against the headboard. Basically he asked her because she was quick and cheap, but given the situation she was in now any job offer was a good job offer. And it was a good opportunity. It was a long term job, so her finances would be secure for at least a little while. It was a good resume builder as well; she would learn new skills that could give her an edge over her competition.  There was only one thing she didn’t like about the offer, and it was that she would be working for Jack Lowery. He was talented and attractive and he knew it.  If houses were built from egos and arrogance he would be living in a palace.

“Argh!” she grunted, knocking her head against the headboard. “It’s such a good offer.”

“Well then, what’s the problem?”

“Jack is the problem. I just can’t see myself working for him! I might kill him before the contract it up. You know he probably still thinks I cheated during that competition in college.”

Liam sighed, “That was years ago, I’m sure he’s probably forgotten all about it. And besides, technically you will be working with Jack and for Liam. Plus with such a tight deadline you won’t have time to focus on anything but work.”

Charli sat up and reached across the bed to Liam. “Give me the phone.”

Liam grinned and picked up the phone lying next to him on the bed. He held it up between him and his sister and said, “Did you catch all that Dylan?”

“Oh you are such an ass!” Charli yelled and kicked Liam off the bed before jumping off the bed and stomping out of the room. She paused in the doorway and called out, “Email me the contract tonight.” Then she rushed out of the room.