"Tall cold brew with a shot of espresso and a splash of cream." Danielle set the cup down on my desk.

"Thanks." I dropped the bag beside the chair, turning around. She looked smoking hot per usual, wearing a tight blue suit with a pencil skirt that accentuated her hips and ass. Lighter colors popped against her dark skin and she knew it. A couple of the guys gave me shit about the fact that I didn't limit my conquests to white girls, like it even mattered when the lights were off. Their loss. Some of those women got real freaky.

I gave Danielle a charming smile. "What would I do without you?"

She snorted. "I only been here eight months, yet you somehow managed before that."

I popped the lid off the coffee and blew on it. "Poorly. Is that a new suit?"

She rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. "Check your email. The Wilkins file requires extra documentation."

All business, that Danielle. Whatever. I'd wear her down eventually.

I wasn't lying, either. She was the best assistant and loan processor I'd ever had. I stuck my head out of my office door and called after her. "Almost forgot, can you check on company tickets for the Hornets games later this week?"

She waved her hand up without turning around. "On it."

I refrained from replying with a lewd I wish, since that was frowned upon in the office. Speaking of lewd, a text came in from Livia.

Livia: Comment ça va? Just finished with the third lesson series! 🎉

How the hell was she so good at this? I'd just started that series. It'd been four days since she won that stupid bet at Duckpin bowling. I hadn't even seen her since then because she'd been working, so now I really needed her to rub it in a different way.

Her reply could wait.

I sat down at my desk, booting up the computer and preparing for work when I received several notifications from PollyGot.

Add Olivia Spencer as a friend? Y/N

Add Maxwell Stone as a friend? Y/N

Add Cameron Hunter as a friend? Y/N

They were simple text notifications, with none of the usual fanfare – probably a new feature. I clicked yes for all of them and sat down at my desk.

Another message interrupted me a few minutes later.

Friendly Challenge! Olivia Spencer is learning the same language! Enable competition mode? Y/N

"Not now." I swiped the notification away.

Another notification, this time accompanied by a triumphant trumpet sound.

Challenge accepted!

What the fuck? I hadn't accepted anything.

Time for the first challenge!

I swiped the notifications away and the app opened. Goddammit!.

Polly swooped onto the screen wearing a workout outfit and running shoes. She started stretching. "Welcome to challenge mode!" My avatar ran in from the side, joining her stretching routine. Excellent. New level of hell unlocked.

I tried to close the app in vain. After a few seconds of swiping around while Polly stretched and giggled, I growled at the stupid bird. "I don't have time for this. I just arrived at work, and I'll practice later."

"Oh, this isn't a normal practice, Wes! This is challenge mode! Don't worry, you can do it!" Polly high-fived my avatar as Danielle walked back in with a file, dropping it on my desk with a thud.

"Hard copies of the documents for Shady Sands Vineyard, so you can give the package a once-over before I submit. Otherwise, it's ready."

I probably didn't need to do this anymore, but I'd worked with some shitty loan processors whose incompetence had cost me in the past. "I'll get it back to you before lunch."

She stared at my phone. "That WesToon thing supposed to be you with the bird?

"WesToon! That's funny." It wasn't. Polly giggled louder, stretching like a maniac. "It's challenge mode! Join in the fun by downloading PollyGot today!"

"Is the bird talking to me?"

I sighed. "I got roped into beta testing for this new language app a friend is developing. The Adaptive AI can be a little aggressive at times." Danielle continued staring at my stretching avatar with fascinated horror. "I've already given him a lot of feedback." Max got an earful over whiskey and beers and then some. Don't think he took it seriously given his cackling laughter, though.

"You say aggressive, I say confident and assertive because we're going to beat your friend Livia to your goal!" Polly and WesToon bent down for a race and we both flinched when the starting gun went off.

"If you ask me, that's aggressive." She backed away from the phone.

"So you don't want to try it?" Polly cocked her head toward Danielle while running.

"Oh, hell, no." She spun around and closed the door on the way out without another word.

Onscreen, Polly turned her head to look directly at me. "I don't like her."

Okay, that was really fucking creepy.

The front camera flashed, snapshotting a picture of my face with an unflattering mixture of anger and horror.

Then the bird cackled, pulling ahead of my avatar in the race. "Just joking, but you should have seen your face. Wait! Polly got you a photo!"

"Not funny, Polly." I grit my teeth. Maybe Wes had added something to my version to fuck with me. It'd explain why he hadn't taken my feedback seriously.

"Aw, we have to have some fun, don't we?" No. We need to survive beta testing. She sprinted across the finish line first, celebrating the huge accomplishment. "Hooray! Now it's time for your challenge!" WesToon trailed behind her, slumping to the ground in defeat. For the first time, I empathized with him.

The image disappeared as a timer popped up in the corner and a message flashed across the screen.

Master as many words as possible within a 20-minute time period. Go!

Literally the last thing I wanted to do right now, but it was probably quicker just to get it over with. I leaned back in the ergometric chair, resigning myself to my fate.

The message disappeared as a word came up.

Être

Ok, I knew this one. With no answers or obvious places to type, I said, "To be?"

A quick chime rang before the next word.

Vous

Another easy one. "You." Ding!

Ça

Hm. I'd definitely seen it before. It was part of the phrase for "How's it going?" so I had a good guess. "It?"

Wrong answer buzzer. The next word appeared without showing me the correct answer. So much for Toddler Mode.

Faire

Never seen this one. "Carnival?"

Wrong buzzer again. Perfect. Only twenty seconds had passed according to the timer in the corner, but it felt like an eternity.

Dans

Another new word. "Dance?"

And another wrong buzzer. Polly popped up on screen, feathers puffed out, the chipper tone in her squawk box gone. "That's three wrong answers in a row, Wes. You can't win this challenge unless you start taking things seriously."

"How the hell am I supposed to know these words when I've never seen them before!"

Through the glass of my office window, I noticed Danielle staring at me. Cool. I'd just yelled at a fucking cartoon parrot like some kind of asshole. She looked away as I got up and drew the blinds down.

"You've seen all of these words before, Wes. Haven't you ever heard of context clues?"

"Of course, I've heard of context clues, but it's pretty fucking hard without the goddamn context, Polly." My fingers clenched.

"No need to be rude." Her feathers ruffled. "All you have to do is ask."

How the hell was I supposed to know that? But I was fully convinced that Polly was female at this point, thanks to her fucking mind games. I flicked the pendulum balls back and forth on my desk.

"This is why Livia is winning." Then that asshole disappeared as another word popped up, the timer continuing to count down. That whole exchange killed a full minute, so that was a win, I guess.

Faire

"Can I have some context, Polly?" Like an idiot.

A sentence popped up.

The word faire has nothing to do with a carnival.

I barked out a laugh because of the absurdity. The little feathered bitch was definitely taunting me.

"Decent," I guessed just to move things along.

Incorrect, as expected, but this time the answer flashed up so quickly, I almost missed it. Almost.

Faire - To do, make

Okay, that helped.

The torture continued for the next fifteen minutes. But with the answers briefly provided, I started getting some of the words right. Even then, I still had to answer three times correctly per word for it to count. I continued to screw some up, but at least I was done when the buzzer hit zero.

Polly reappeared with a sign that read: Challenge Complete! 17 correct out of 50! 100 XP Rating: D

50 words! That was a fuckton at once.

"Livia got 32 out of 50." Polly threw the sign on the ground, jumped on top, and proceeded to tear it apart with her clawed feet. When she was finished she put her wings on her hips. "Do better, Wes. And don't you dare forget about practice later today!"

Then the app snapped closed before I could give her a piece of my mind. Do better. What a pile of horseshit. I bet she was lying about Livia's score, too.

Knock! Knock!.

"Yeah?" I asked.

Danielle poked her head in. "You want the good news or bad news?"

"Bad news first." Always.

"The Hornets are in California all week. Good news is that there are several home games for the following week. There's a 7:00 p.m. game on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and a 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Which do you prefer?"

Livia said she had Fridays off. Plus, I could work from home that day. "Probably the Thursday game, but I'll let you know in a bit, thanks." She nodded and moved to close the door.  "Leave it open." That way I could watch her ass shimmy back and forth across the office floor.

I texted Livia as Danielle left.

Wes: Ca va ben.

She wasn't the only one that could show off.

Wes: Quick question. Did you friend me on PollyGot?

Within 5 minutes I got a response.

Livia: Yep. As soon as I accepted the friend request, I got a new word challenge.

Wes: Same.

Livia: How'd you do?

Wes: 34 out of 50.

Livia: Really? I got 32 out of 50, but it told me you got 17. 😆

So she wasn't lying, goddamnit. And I should have guessed the bird would rat me out.

Wes: oh, that was just the first time. I had a weak Wi-Fi connection and had to redo it.

Livia: Sure. Makes sense.

I could see she was typing. Better change the subject before she thought about it much.

Wes: Hornets away, so I can't get tickets until next week.

She stopped typing. Good girl.

Wes: I thought that Thursday at 7 would be best because the weekends get busy and the crowd is filled with assholes.

Livia: Thursday works.

Wes: On a Thursday, we might even get the box to ourselves.

Livia: Even better.💋

Tease. She'd barely even kissed me the other night when I dropped her off at home.

Wes: I'll grab the Thursday tickets.

Livia: Great! See you then!

I was going to ask if she wanted to get together this weekend, but not after that text. It'd come across as desperate. Besides, I could always pick up some rando over the weekend if it came to that, though I had to admit I was enjoying chasing Livia for now.

I turned my attention back to the computer. I'd been at the office for almost 45 minutes and had yet to accomplish a single thing. I rarely slacked off this much until after lunch. As I opened a client file, a notification popped up on my laptop screen.

PollyGot Synced! Maintain your streak at work or home!

Oh, fuck me.

WORD COUNT: 1959
TOTAL: 9162